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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28267422">Seoul Mask</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/J1M1NSS1/pseuds/Dakota%20Smith'>Dakota Smith (J1M1NSS1)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, M/M, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Thriller</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:02:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>25,507</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28267422</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/J1M1NSS1/pseuds/Dakota%20Smith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“All I can tell you is; one of you isn’t pure, one of you has bad intentions.”</p><p>When one of their friends disappears mysteriously one night, a group of friends known through Discord decide to meet up in person for the first time. A simple encounter in Seoul turns dangerous as members of the group start dying and disappearing one by one. Trust is thinning between them, the friends begin to turn on each other. Is one of them behind this? Among the group, one has bad intentions, one is not who they think he is, a sole mask is hiding the truth.</p><p>[IMPORTANT: There are sensitive topics all throughout the story such as death, disappearance, violence. Please read at your discretion.]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Seoul Mask</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>~ “All I can tell you is; one of you isn’t pure, one of you has bad intentions.” ~</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Minho [bad day,huh?]</p><p>Changbin [yeah, you could say that]</p><p>Hyunjin [what’s up?]</p><p>Changbin [oh, boss is being an ass]</p><p>[not a big deal]</p><p>Minho [kay, if you say so]</p><p>[i could beat him up for you]</p><p>Changbin [yes please]</p><p>Hyunjin [lol, just don’t get yourself fired]</p><p>Jisung [yeah, you should stay on this job]</p><p>Chan [^^ You need the money.]</p><p>Changbin [i’m already looking for a new job, i can’t stand that filthy idiot]</p><p>Minho [well on a happy note,,,i think i finally have a chance at that art exhibition i was telling you guys about]</p><p>Jisung [wow!!! Minho,,,that’s amazing!]</p><p>Minho [thx,,they said my work was unique and they would love to have it put up for the exhibition]</p><p>Hyunjin [we should all go see it]</p><p>Chan [Yeah,that would be cool]</p><p>[we could finally see each other in person]</p><p>Jisung [i mean,,for all i know you guys could be 50 year old men]</p><p>Hyunjin [what if we are?]</p><p>Changbin [then you’re definitely some nerdy 50 year olds]</p><p>Hyunjin [what if i’m just a 50 year old that likes video games????]</p><p>Jisung [woah woah there]</p><p>[see,,,this is why i said we should send selfies]</p><p>Hyunjin [we’ve been talking for like a month!!!]</p><p>Chan [Yeah,you don’t trust us?]</p><p>Jisung [well, hyunjin’s a pretty convincing 50 year old!!]</p><p>Changbin [LMAO]</p><p>Jisung [what does minho think about this??]</p><p>[it’s his exhibition]</p><p>Hyunjin [?????]</p><p>Changbin [where’d he go??]</p><p>Jisung [whatever,, he probably went to the washroom or something]</p><p>Changbin [why is he active then?????]</p><p>Jisung [I have no idea,, maybe he left his computer on????]</p><p>Hyunjin [yeah lol,,makes sense]</p><p>Chan [Um….]</p><p>Changbin [so, how did everyone else’s day go?]</p><p>~</p><p>Minho:</p><p>Minho’s phone buzzed as a text lit up the screen. He looked away from his PC to the small display. The text from an unknown number gave the boy chills for some reason. Maybe it was the dark room, or the sudden appearance of the message. Minho stood up and walked over to the light switch, which he flipped on. It got dark while he was playing Among Us with his online friends, he didn’t even notice how the time flew by. Settling back into his chair, he took another look at the text.</p><p>Unknown [What’s your biggest fear?]</p><p>Minho rolled his eyes. What kind of game was this?  </p><p>Minho [Who are you?]</p><p>Shaking his head, he set the phone down, not expecting a reply anytime soon. Just as he looked back to his Discord conversation, the desk vibrated slightly with a new notification. </p><p>Unknown [I know what it is.]</p><p>Minho stared at his phone, slightly amused, but slightly frightened at the same time. Putting on his Big Boy Pants, he typed out his reply.</p><p>Minho [huh?]</p><p>Perfect, he thought. Nice and simple, and it described perfectly how he felt-</p><p>Unknown [A locked room with no escape.]</p><p>Now this isn’t funny at all, he thought. The braver side of him thought, that is. The tightening around his chest was the frightened side of him; it screamed that something wasn’t right. He had never told anyone of his fear, his biggest fear. This unknown number had it correct, exactly as it was written in his mind, spelt out in shaky handwriting. He couldn’t stand thinking about it. </p><p>Unknown [You feel stranded.]</p><p>And suddenly, he did. Minho felt trapped in his bedroom, all alone. He was having trouble convincing himself that this was a joke now, he felt scared. He leapt from his chair and darted to the door, grabbing the handle. Locked. Minho never even knew his door could lock from the outside! He pried at it, moaning in frustration, but it didn’t budge. He stood frozen for a second, he didn’t understand what was going on, his chest was tightening more, he couldn’t breathe, he felt...stranded.</p><p>Unknown [Oh, well that’s unfortunate, isn’t it?]</p><p>Taking a deep, shaky inhale of oxygen, Minho typed with trembling fingers.</p><p>Minho [Stop! This isn’t funny!]</p><p>He shut his eyes, struggling to take hold of himself. Nothing but a bad dream, he insisted. Yes, he was dreaming and nothing more. He tugged at the door once again, still locked. When his phone vibrated this time, he jumped, but brought the message up to his eyes as quickly as he could. His heart skipped a beat, his breath hitched.</p><p>Unknown [Do you ever feel like you’re being watched, Minho?]</p><p>~</p><p>The others on Discord:</p><p>Chan [Guys, I’m starting to get worried]</p><p>Hyunjin [DO YOU THINK WE AREN’T]</p><p>Jisung [let’s just wait a bit longer, I’m sure he’s fine]</p><p>Changbin [yeah, why are we getting so worried?]</p><p>Hyunjin [I just have a bad feeling…..I can’t explain it]</p><p>Seungmin [what’s up guys? What’s going on?]</p><p>Changbin [oh, seungmin!]</p><p>Jeongin [what’s wrong with minho?]</p><p>Chan [Why are you guys showing up all of a sudden?]</p><p>Seungmin [Hyunjin texted]</p><p>Jeongin [Yeah, he’s freaking out]</p><p>Hyunjin [Of course I am!!!!!!!]</p><p>Seungmin [listen,,,he’s probably fine]</p><p>[just give it some time. Have you never seen anyone disappear on discord before?]</p><p>Hyunjin [NO]</p><p>Jisung [yeah, me neither]<br/>
Seungmin [me neither,, but he’s alright. Kay?]</p><p>Hyunjin [yeah, fine.]</p><p>[but if he’s not back by tomorrow morning, I’m getting someone to check on him]</p><p>Jeongin [and who’s that?]</p><p>Jisung [you don’t even know where he lives….]</p><p>Hyunjin [one of my friends from dance knows him irl]</p><p>Changbin [ oh cool]</p><p>Hyunjin [yeah,, guess it is]</p><p>Jisung [so now we wait…]</p><p>Chan [Yeah, does anyone want to play Among Us??]</p><p>~</p><p>Felix:</p><p>Hyunjinne [please bro, i’m really worried]</p><p>Lixie [i think you're over exaggerating]</p><p>[i am really quite sure he’s fine]</p><p>Hyunjinnie [fine,, call him then]</p><p>Lixie [sure,, one sec]</p><p>Felix dialed Minho’s number with a smile on his face. Why was Hyunjin freaking out so much? Minho just left the chat unexpectedly, went to bed and didn’t come back the next morning. Or maybe he fell asleep, there were plenty of explanations for what happened. The phone rang for a long time, then went to voicemail. He’s asleep, Felix thought, glancing at the clock that read 3:00pm. He dialed again. Same thing, the phone rang for what seemed like forever, then went to voicemail. A third attempt and Felix decided to leave a message, as the female voice in the voicemail had been urging him to do over and over.</p><p>“Hey Minho! Really sorry to bother you, just your friends from your Discord group chat got really worried yesterday when you disappeared so suddenly. Could you please call me back or text them to let them know you’re okay? Thanks! Love you.”</p><p>Lixie [no, no reply]</p><p>Hyunjinne [lixie, no!!!! You’re kidding, right?]</p><p>Lixie [no, really. He didn’t answer]</p><p>[don’t worry, he’s probably sleeping or something]</p><p>Hyunjinnie [at 3:00????????]</p><p>Lixie [okay, what do you want me to do?]</p><p>Hyunjinnie [go to his apartment and check on him]</p><p>Lixie [hyunjinnie, really?]</p><p>Hyunjinnie [yes]</p><p>Lixie [fine]</p><p>[i’ll do it just so you calm down]</p><p>Hyunjinnie [thank you so muchhhhhhhh]</p><p>Lixie [ugh]</p><p>Felix got into his car feeling a bit frustrated. This was Minho, who he loved very much and wanted to make sure he was okay, but this was also stupid. He was doing it mainly so that Hyunjin got out of his hair. He would much rather be snuggling in bed with his cat right now, eating ramen and watching a movie as he had planned. But it couldn’t hurt. Minho didn’t live far, he would simply knock on his door, say hi and be gone. He would then report to Hyunjin that Minho is indeed alive and perfectly okay, and maybe Hyunjin wouldn’t have a heart attack then. Felix hummed the tune that rang through his car as he drove, tapping his fingers to the beat. He arrived soon after, brushing his hand through his hair and getting out of the vehicle.</p><p>He marched up to the apartment building, his strides lengthy. He briskly made his way to the elevator and up to the fifth floor. The hall was quite empty and the atmosphere eerie, and this chilled the boy, but he kept a persistent eye on door 37. He knocked. Taking a deep breath, Felix looked around himself. Was he looking for reassurance? Perhaps he was, as when he knocked the second time it seemed a bit more urgent and panicked. He seemed to have been waiting for the longest time. Why wasn’t he answering? What’s going on? And he caught himself thinking like Hyunjin at once. Minho barely ever left his house. What was the need for restaurants when he cooked perfectly fine himself or ordered in when he wasn’t cooking? Maybe he was out for groceries? But what if he wasn’t? What if something really was wrong? Felix felt the worry wash over him like icy water.</p><p>Taking a shaky breath and brushing back his hair, Felix drew his keys from his pocket. There he had extra keys to Minho’s apartment from when he took care of his cats when Minho was out. Finding it a bit hard to get the key into the lock with his shaking hands, he finally felt a click. Felix was inside quite quickly, pacing around the living room that doubled as a kitchen. No sign of Minho. Felix was at the door of Minho’s bedroom in a flash, twisting the doorknob. It was locked. A slamming feeling in the boy’s insides as he turned the lock, he never even knew the door could lock from the outside. Either way, Felix didn’t think that was a good sign. Why would Minho lock the door from the outside? The brushing feeling of Soongi, Minho’s cat, against his leg did not comfort the boy one bit when he saw what was inside. He screamed.<br/>
~<br/>
When two police officers were crowding around Felix, interrogating him, he felt distant. Their voices seemed miles away, his head was spinning with fright and confusion. What happened to Minho and where was he? The locked door was an obstacle for the shock inside. And it wasn’t what was there that shook Felix so much, it was what wasn’t there. Minho was missing, his bedroom seemed practically untouched, not counting the patch of piercingly red blood on the white carpet and the vertical streak of red paint on the glass of the window. Felix couldn’t continue telling himself that Minho was safe in his home. He couldn’t seem to comfort himself in any way. Minho was gone, most likely kidnapped and it was Felix’s fault.</p><p>“Sir, are you okay?”</p><p>Felix looked up at the tall handsome police officer that towered over him. The man looked concerned.</p><p>“Would you like some water?” The man inquired, observing Felix with his dark eyes.</p><p>“No thanks,” Felix replied in a rather monotone voice.</p><p>“Alright then,” The officer said, looking unconvinced. “But if you don’t feel good, make sure to tell me.”</p><p>“No, I feel wonderful, thanks.” Felix turned away. He stood in the hall outside Minho’s apartment. People kept walking by, looking into the doorway curiously and it made Felix angry.</p><p>“Listen, I know this is hard. If only you could give us all the details you can and we will find your friend.” The officer looked apologetic.</p><p>“Do you think he’s okay?” Felix looked back at the attractive man, having a rather difficult time staying angry. He felt scared and needed comfort.</p><p>“Yes, I am sure he is. You need to stay strong and have hope for him,” The police officer smiled gently at the smaller male. “We’ll find him.”</p><p>Felix’s throat tightened as he tried to contain tears. Nothing helped, however, he burst into tears anyway. The police officer sighed and pat Felix’s back reassuringly. Felix continued crying silently, embracing the random police officer. The man looked a bit awkward for a second, before hugging the boy gently in return. He ignored the confused look his partner gave him and assured Felix again,</p><p>“He’ll be okay. When did you last see him?”</p><p>Felix looked up, sniffing and thought a bit,<br/>
“The day before yesterday. It was my friend who told me there might be something wrong. He’s on a Discord group chat with him, he doesn’t know where he lives, so he wanted me to check on him. So, Hyunjinnie told me he disappeared from the group chat and he was worried. I thought it was nothing, but when I went to check on him, well.” Felix trailed off and sobbed again into the officer’s chest.</p><p>“We promise to do everything we can to help find your friend,” The police officer comforted the smaller male.</p><p>~<br/>
Hyunjin [i don’t know what to do]</p><p>Jeongin [guys,,,I’m so scared..]</p><p>Seungmin [same]</p><p>Hyunjin [what if they don’t find him?]</p><p>[i feel so guilty]</p><p>Chan [It isn’t your fault]</p><p>[Or any of us]</p><p>Jisung [yeah, chan’s right]</p><p>Changbin [i just got an idea]</p><p>Hyunjin [??]</p><p>Changbin [something that might help us stay sane while they look for him]</p><p>Hyunjin [ come on,, spit it out]</p><p>Changbin [we should all meet in person]</p><p>Jisung [how’s that supposed to help us?]</p><p>Hyunjin [yeah,,i don’t think it’ll help me sleep at night to see you guys]</p><p>Seungmin [changbin’s got a point,,,we can help each other]</p><p>Changbin [how many of you are living alone right now?]</p><p>Jeongin [me]</p><p>Hyunjin [same]</p><p>Jisung [yup]</p><p>Seungmin [me]</p><p>Chan [Me]</p><p>Changbin [see?]</p><p>[and me too]</p><p>[this is difficult,, i’m really worried and i could use some company]</p><p>Jeongin [yeah, i agree]</p><p>Chan [How are we going to meet?]</p><p>Changbin [we can arrange to all meet somewhere and stay in a motel or something]</p><p>[just for a few days]</p><p>Jisung [i guess that could be beneficial]</p><p>Changbin [exactly]</p><p>Hyunjin [what if they find minho?]</p><p>Changbin [then we’ll all go to incheon]</p><p>Hyunjin [fine,, i’m in]</p><p>Changbin [great]</p><p>[everyone else good?]</p><p>Seungmin [yeah]</p><p>Jeongin [sure]</p><p>Jisung [it feels weird travelling when our friend is missing]</p><p>[but kay]</p><p>Chan [I’m in]</p><p>Jisung [what city are we meeting in then?]</p><p>Chan [Seoul?]</p><p>Changbin [are you sure?]</p><p>[that’s so far for you]</p><p>Jisung [yeah,, we could choose somewhere closer for you]</p><p>[i mean,, we can all make it just fine,,, but busan is so far..]</p><p>Chan [No, no, it’s fine]</p><p>[Really, it’s more convenient for you guys]</p><p>Changbin [kay,,seoul it is then]</p><p>[we just need to discuss where to stay]</p><p>Hyunjin [when should we leave?]</p><p>Chan [Tomorrow?]</p><p>Changbin [i guess tomorrow’s fine]</p><p>Seungmin [it’s going to be so weird to see you all in real life finally….]</p><p>Jeongin [yeah….strange]</p><p>~</p><p>As Changbin locked the door to his apartment, he felt an empty sensation in his stomach. Like many of his friends in the groupchat, he didn’t sleep. The 22-year-old had never experienced something of the sort in his life. He couldn’t get Minho off his mind. The strange thing was, he didn’t even know the guy in person, and was still worried sick. That morning, he decided that a sip of water was enough for breakfast, ignoring his annoyed stomach’s complaints, as he had not eaten dinner the night before. Flipping his short hair, Changbin turned and slung his duffel bag over his shoulder. When he got outside and began his brisk walk to the bus station, he looked around the streets. Some people seemed to be enjoying themselves, though there weren’t many of them (it was only 9:00 am after all). Changbin couldn’t imagine someone having nothing on their mind and enjoying the morning when Minho was missing, it seemed unfair and ridiculous. He sighed, turning his gaze back to the sidewalk.</p><p>Changbin was soon on the bus and moving toward Seoul, toward the new people he was about to meet. Was he nervous? Well, you could say so. Changbin couldn’t wait to meet them, but at the same time, it felt difficult to share his emotions with someone at a time like this. He was already telling himself over and over that Minho is okay, Minho will be found soon and will be just fine. How much good could it do for a group of other people to tell him the same thing? Was it true? Of course, it was! How could he even think otherwise? As he watched streets speed away, he sighed for what felt like the millionth time that morning. It was him who arranged the meeting, it was he who originally got this idea and he should follow through with it. He should be strong, he couldn’t show his weaknesses to some people he had never even met before.</p><p>With Yongin a while away, Changbin stepped out of the bus. The sight that greeted him wasn’t anything special. A small motel; a parking lot before it and an ugly orange colour carelessly slathered over the doors of the depressingly gray building. Looking longingly back at the bus that slipped away, Changbin stood observing for a moment longer. When he finally decided to walk up to the motel, he continued to inquiringly scan his eyes over the parking lot. It was practically empty as if someone had emptied a box of cards, leaving only the ones not needed for the game, forgotten. Only one car out of the dark bunch before his eyes caught his attention, an orange truck. He sighed again, what an ugly colour it was for a vehicle. The lobby was empty, except a withered looking lady with grey hair at the front desk and a good-looking, black-haired guy in the corner, who sat on an unstable looking chair, briefly glancing up as Changbin announced his presence.</p><p>“Hello, I have a reservation.”</p><p>The lady looked up from her computer, looking into Changbin’s eyes with her grey ones,</p><p>“Yes, yes, no one really makes reservations here. Strange.”</p><p>She slowly hit the keys on her keyboard for a few seconds before looking back up,<br/>

“What’s the name?”</p><p>“Seo, Changbin.”</p><p>“Ah, yes. Okay”</p><p>Changbin watched as the lady’s ancient fingers moved over the keyboard, to her mouse and she requested he pay. Having received the keys to his room, he looked around. Not knowing what else to do, he carried his bag over to the waiting area. Setting the duffel bag down, he sat next to the black haired gentleman. Unfortunately, he couldn’t put more than one rickety seat between them as the number of spots was limited. Changbin pulled out his phone, wondering how on Earth he was supposed to recognize the others when they arrived. Suddenly he felt a rather aggressive poke in his shoulder, one could describe it as a jab.</p><p>“Changbin?”</p><p>Changbin turned to the handsome guy next to him. Had he heard his name when he was registering? Why was he addressing him now?</p><p>“Uh, yeah.” The stranger smiled,</p><p>“Wow, you look different than what I had assumed. I’m Jisung.”</p><p>Then it hit him,

“Oh, hello!”</p><p>Jisung looked over Changbin’s face longer,</p><p>“Strange how different you look.” Changbin rolled his eyes,</p><p>“Not that I predicted how you would look. Nice to finally meet you though.”</p><p>“Yeah, same here,” said Jisung. “Could you stand up real quick?”</p><p>Changbin stood, confused. As Jisung got up as well, Changbin knew where it was going.</p><p>“Gosh, you’re tiny!” Jisung cooed.</p><p>“Dude, you’re like five centimetres taller than me!” Changbin defended</p><p>“Aww, you never told me you’re tiny,” Jisung continued.</p><p>“Oh God, shut it.” Changbin sat back down.</p><p>“You are muscular though, I’ll give you that,” Jisung concluded, taking his seat once again.</p><p>“Let me guess, Grindr?” came the voice of the ancient lady at the front desk.</p><p>Both males turned to her, confused.</p><p>“Uh, no. Internet friends,” Jisung clarified.</p><p>The lady nodded, looking slightly unconvinced. When she looked back to her dusty computer, Changbin and Jisung turned to each other and contained laughter. At that precise moment, the door of the lobby swung open and in marched a harassed looking guy pulling a black suitcase behind him. Dressed in a black sweatshirt and blue skinny jeans; his hair was ruffled and messy. He stopped, looking around, and gruffly made his way to the front desk.</p><p>“Reservation for Kim Seungmin,” he declared.</p><p>The lady took her sweet time to register him, just as she had done with Changbin. Snatching his keys from the lady’s wrinkly fingers, Seungmin dragged his suitcase over to the waiting area.</p><p>“Good day.” He bowed his head to the other two.</p><p>“Seungmin!” Jisung exclaimed.</p><p>Seungmin gave him a bewildered look,</p><p>“Who are you?”</p><p>Changbin laughed,</p><p>“That’s Jisung and I’m Changbin.”</p><p>Seungmin’s eyes widened as he put the pieces together.</p><p>“Oh, hey! Sorry, I just had no idea what you guys looked like, it’s so weird finally seeing you. Gosh, you guys are good-looking!” The boy attempted to flatten his own fluffy hair.</p><p>“Oh, thanks. You’re not so bad yourself.” Jisung winked.</p><p>“Oh god, you’re even worse in real life, you crazy flirt.” Seungmin laughed.</p><p>“So what’s happened to you? You look like you travelled here by blender,” Changbin remarked.</p><p>“You will not believe this.” Seungmin took the seat between the two he had just met, “So I took the bus here, right? Yeah, and just now, I got off at the wrong stop. I totally freaked out, because the bus was driving away. So, naturally, I ran after it. Didn’t catch it, of course. Well, I guess God is on my side today because I was able to catch another bus quite quickly. The dude that drove it though, asked me for more money, as he was “changing his original route to accommodate for my stupidity”. I was ready to punch him, but he refused to lower the cost. So I paid him and got on. Halfway there, this kid starts CRYING. And he did not shut up for like 20 minutes STRAIGHT. Not only that, but this OTHER kid was COUGHING beside me. I was like “okay I don’t want this nasty kid’s germs”, right? So I got up off my seat and turned out there was nowhere else to sit. So I stood for the last like 15 minutes, almost fell down a couple times, because that greedy bus driver wasn’t a very good DRIVER! So I arrived at last. I get off and realize I’m missing my phone. I turn back and that greedy idiot is driving away already. I ran after him for a bit, but no luck. I did, however, trip and almost broke my ankle. So now I am phoneless, injured, and probably sick from that diseased kid that sat next to me. I can’t even call my mom. Can you believe that? Good thing I got up at 7:00 am, or else I wouldn’t have made it.” Seungmin concluded.</p><p>“Wow and you’re even early,” Jisung added.</p><p>Before Seungmin could complain any further, the door to the lobby opened once again. There stood a rather tall guy with short brown hair. He approached the front desk as the three in the waiting area watched. </p><p>“Bang Chan.” He stated simply.

“Reservation?” The old lady inquired.</p><p>“Yes.” Chan nodded.</p><p>The three others watched like curious puppies as he paid and received the keys for his room. When the newcomer was finished, he turned around and, pausing briefly, walked up to the group.</p><p>Jisung, once again, was the first to greet him,</p><p>“Chan!”</p><p>“Yes, and you are?”</p><p>Jisung jumped up and bowed,</p><p>“Jisung”</p><p>“Changbin.”</p><p>“Seungmin.”</p><p>Chan grinned,</p><p>“Oh hey guys, you look different from what I imagined.”</p><p>“So do you. Did you dye your hair?” Jisung looked Chan over.</p><p>“Uh, yeah.” Chan nodded.</p><p>“Nice, brown suits you,” Seungmin commented.</p><p>“Thanks.” Chan smiled.</p><p>Chan now set his backpack and duffel bag down, standing next to Changbin. Before the conversation could progress further, someone else entered the lobby. This newcomer was rather sleepy-looking, his blue hair was flat on one side, making him look extra cute. It would be a lie to say that even the ancient lady didn’t remark in her head at once that this boy was nothing short of adorable. His oversized, baby blue hoodie made him look smaller, if that was possible and his tired, blinking eyes gave him a look of innocence. He rolled his big suitcase along the carpeted floor to the front desk and straightened his hoodie before croaking,</p><p>“Reservation for Yang Jeongin, please.”</p><p>Though she looked as she was about to cry from his endearing appearance, the aged lady nodded and began typing on her keyboard. She printed out the receipt and handed the customer his keys slowly. The boy smiled and turned, his sleepy eyes blinking confusedly at the waiting area. </p><p>“Jeongin?” The speaker this time was Seungmin.</p><p>“That’s me.” Jeongin looked over everyone’s faces. Then his eyes opened wider, he grinned, “Hey, you guys?”</p><p>“Yeah! I’m Jisung.” Jisung jumped up again to bow.</p><p>“Changbin.”</p><p>“Chan.”</p><p>“Seungmin.” </p><p>After introductions, Jeongin observed their faces a while longer then, beaming, dragged his suitcase over, leaving it next to Chan’s belongings.</p><p>“You guys are all so cute!” He turned to his friends.</p><p>“PSHHHH, says you!!!” Jisung cackled.</p><p>Jeongin looked confused.</p><p>“You’re adorable yourself!” Jisung rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Aw, thanks. I’m a bit sleepy, I didn’t sleep much and tried to take a nap on the ride here,” Jeongin apologized.</p><p>“AWWWWW YOU’RE SO CUUUUUUUUTE!” Jisung cooed, poking Jeongin’s cheek.</p><p>Jeongin looked slightly embarrassed as Changbin, Seungmin and Chan chortled.</p><p>“Who are we missing?” Chan inquired.</p><p>“Just Hyunjin, I think.” Seungmin looked around the musty lobby. He noticed the old lady listening intently to their conversation.</p><p>“How was everyone’s trip here?” Jeongin was about to sit on the floor when Jisung pushed him into his own seat and sat on the dirty carpet himself. The three chairs were now occupied by Changbin, Jeongin and Seungmin, with Chan standing and JIsung settled on the floor.</p><p>“Mine was fine,” Chan began, “I got up quite early, as I live far. I took the train.”</p><p>“Dude you probably had to get up like yesterday at noon, for today!” Jisung exclaimed.</p><p>“What does that even mean?” Changbin gave him a concerned look.</p><p>Chan laughed,</p><p>“Nah, 5 am.”</p><p>“Wahhhh.” Jisung’s eyes widened.</p><p>“I got up early too,” Seungmin commented. “My trip was hectic-”</p><p>He was cut off before he could recite his disastrous morning again, though. This time, no one entered the lobby. Everyone’s attention was turned outside the building, where through the windows they saw a car pull up. The sparkly clean white Porsche shone in the sun. Five pairs of eyes watched to see who had arrived (six if you were counting the old lady, who stopped eavesdropping to observe). The passenger door swung open first and out stepped a rather small guy. His platinum blond hair was cut short, he wore a red sweater and black sweatpants. The male had a hesitant look to him as he reached back into the car, withdrew a large backpack and gave the building a distrustful glance.</p><p>“Hold up,” Jisung ruined the moment, “if that’s Hyunjin, who’s driving?”</p><p>No one had time to wonder before the driver’s door revealed another figure. As he emerged, the observers noticed his height and slim figure. This gentleman was more confident in his appearance. His light pink hair slightly surpassed his cutting jawline, part of it was done up in a small ponytail and he wore a black headband. His outfit accentuated his bold, minimalistic look; a navy t-shirt tucked into black skinny jeans.</p><p>“Who the hell-” Again, Jisung ruined the mood. </p><p>Everyone turned back to him and away from the new arrivals, convinced they weren’t the right people.</p><p>“Anyway, Seungmin, continue,” Changbin resumed the conversation.</p><p>“Yeah, well-” Seungmin didn’t finish once again. The door opened and the two new gentlemen strolled in. Frozen again, the friends watched them approach the front desk.</p><p>“Reservation for Hwang Hyunjin,” The taller stated.</p><p>“And your friend?” The old lady eyed his companion.</p><p>“Yes, I was wondering about that.” Hyunjin smiled. “You don’t happen to have any free rooms, do you?”</p><p>“I have one and that’s yours.” The lady replied.</p><p>“Oh, that’s a problem,” Hyunjin paused. “Are you quite sure you don’t have a single other room?”</p><p>“Everything’s occupied, sorry.” The lady shrugged.</p><p>Hyunjin turned to his smaller companion.</p><p>“See, I told you you shouldn’t have brought me.” The latter sighed.</p><p>“We’ll figure it out, Felix.” Hyunjin turned to the waiting area. Everyone immediately looked away, some at their lap, some out a window, Jisung even began doing jumping jacks, convinced they look natural. Hyunjin strode over, clearing his throat,</p><p>“Hello.”</p><p>Jisung, who stopped his exercise at once looked over at him,</p><p>“So you’re Hyunjin?”</p><p>Hyunjin stared at him blankly.</p><p>“I’m Jisung.” The other boy grinned. “Hey feel my shirt.”</p><p>Hyunjin rolled his eyes,</p><p>“Hi, Jisung. Yes, yes, it’s “boyfriend material”, I know. I need a favour.”</p><p>Looking disappointed, Jisung said,</p><p>“Fine. What do you need?”</p><p>“So that there is Felix.” Hyunjin pointed at his companion. “He was the one that found Minho’s apartment empty and was questioned first by the police. He wasn’t feeling great, he was super lonely, so I brought him along. Anyways, can anyone help us out and share a room with me so Felix can have his own?”</p><p>“Oh yeah-” Jisung began.</p><p>“I can,” Jeongin offered.</p><p>Hyunjin looked at him and smiled,</p><p>“That would be great!”</p><p>Jisung, once again, looked crestfallen. When Hyunjin returned to the old lady, registering Felix, everyone watched intently once again. </p><p>“I knew it,” The lady said, handing him the key to Felix’s room.</p><p>“Knew what?” Hyunjin looked caught off guard.</p><p>“That you guys were on Grindr.” The lady stated plainly.</p><p>While everyone looked annoyed, Jisung burst out in ringing laughter. Hyunjin, however, did wonder how he and Jeongin were going to settle in the room with a single bed.</p><p>~</p><p>The boys took time to settle in their rooms, agreeing to meet up for lunch. Luckily for Hyunjin and Jeongin, the bed was queen-sized and they decided they would share it. Otherwise, everyone was decently comfortable in the rooms they were presented. Not the cleanest they were, but as good as motel rooms get. There was a mild interruption when Jisung found a dead, dry cockroach in the corner of the small room and screamed like he was being murdered. Changbin, who was somewhat of a clean-freak, didn’t particularly enjoy the dusty furniture. There seemed to be more dust than furniture in his room. The bedside table, pathetic chair in the corner and the shaky table were all lined with a thick layer of dust. Changbin complained to the lady, who was, as far as he knew, was the only employee in the building. He quickly gave up on the issue when the lady threw him a rag and continued her reading of “The Flawed New Generation”. Seungmin, who was lucky enough to receive one of those not many rooms that had been cleaned since the previous year, was busy reading as soon as he had unpacked. Jisung stretched out his yoga mat and began a video yoga class that he played on his phone. Chan pulled out his laptop and worked on something for work.</p><p>~</p><p>“Come on, Felix,” Hyunjin urged.<br/>
When Felix shook his head firmly, Hyunjin took the burden.</p><p>“Felix told me that he saw something strange at the crime scene.” Hyunjin looked cautiously at Felix. When he saw that the latter was covering his face with his hands, he continued. “It was a line drawn on the window in red paint.”</p><p>“And?” Jisung chewed his sandwich, looking bored.</p><p>“Well.” Hyunjin showed them a photo of the vertical line on the glass of the window.</p><p>“What’s it supposed to mean?” Jeongin asked nervously.</p><p>“That’s the point.” Hyunjin shrugged. “We don’t know.”</p><p>Felix suddenly looked up and around everyone’s anxious faces,</p><p>“Minho could have drawn it! It might not even mean anything!”</p><p>But this, he was saying simply to comfort; to comfort himself more than the others. Felix was scared and he couldn’t dare think what the kidnapper had meant by the line, all he wanted was his friend back. Desperate as he was to not leave Incheon while Minho was missing, Hyunjin convinced him to leave the dwelling misery in his home and take a breather. Now as Felix pored over his food while everyone else ate, he felt slightly out of place. The group of friends sat in a small cafe, eating lunch and chatting. No one felt especially happy, but the company did fill the void a bit and they could all admit it.</p><p>“Hey.” Chan put his hand on Felix’s arm, “They’ll find him. Trust me.”</p><p>Felix looked away quickly, gazing out the large window into the street instead.</p><p>“Felix, it’s hard, we know. We have to have hope,” Changbin added.</p><p>~</p><p>When Jisung found a live roach scurrying around the carpet of his room, greeting him when he returned from his shopping trip, he refused to enter the room again. Changbin and Chan went to investigate while the escaped Jisung sat, eyes wide from shock, on Felix’s bed, looking as if he was about to pass out. </p><p>“Do you want to watch a movie?” Felix proposed, emerging from the washroom, where he was brushing his hair.</p><p>“Huh?” Jisung looked up at him.</p><p>“Do you want to watch a movie?” Felix repeated, slower this time. He turned off the lights in the washroom and joined Jisung on the bed.</p><p>“Uh, yeah.” Jisung nodded, hanging off of the bed, checking under it for any signs of bugs.</p><p>Felix chuckled and brought out his laptop from his backpack. The two watched movies for the rest of the evening. They got through two, ordered chicken, watched another and talked until late. It took everything he had, but Felix did convince Jisung to return to his own room to sleep. Assuring him for the tenth time that it was safe and that it was roach-free, Felix shut the door behind a slightly unconvinced Jisung.</p><p>~</p><p>The ringing made his head pulse, it disrupted his dream and pulled him out above the surface of that ocean of fright his mind created at night. Blinking in bewilderment, Felix gripped for the lamp next to his bed. The light was like the headlight of a car coming straight for him. When the boy finally caught hold of his ringing phone, he closed his eyes to shield from the overwhelming light,</p><p>“Hello?”</p><p>“Hi, is this Felix?”</p><p>Felix recognized the familiar voice. It was deep and smooth, which normally would have been a blessing to one’s ears, but it sent Felix’s stomach into a flying explosion.</p><p>“Yes.” </p><p>The answer was bland, but Felix couldn’t seem to utter a single word more. The news was either really good or really bad, Felix knew it.</p><p>“How are you? Are you doing alright?” The police officer was making the same casual small talk one would make before announcing a long-awaited result or frightening news.</p><p>“I’m fine. Just met up with some friends.” Felix was hoping Jake (the police officer that he had cried in front of a few days prior) would get straight to the point, he knew the man didn’t just call to chat.</p><p>“Well, I assume you know why I called,” Jake began, as if he had read Felix’s thoughts through the phone, “they found him.”</p><p>The last three words were barely processed in Felix's head. His brain was so full of thoughts and emotions, he could barely comprehend what was going on. He opened his mouth to ask; to ask what everyone wanted to know, to ask what would determine everything.</p><p>“I’m so sorry.” Jake’s voice was shaky, but this was something Felix didn’t notice.</p><p>There was no need to say anymore. Minho was gone, gone and Felix would never see him again. He would never see him smile, hear his laughter, he would never back hug him again when the other was having trouble learning choreographies, he would never comfort him when he was feeling down. Minho was gone, slipped away like that, taking that bright smile, those shining eyes full of happiness with him. In a way, Felix knew this was coming. Despite everyone preaching about having hope and assuring that Minho would be found, Felix still had that internal horror, he knew he would never see him again. Silent tears streaming down his face, Felix hung up. Grabbing his phone and a jacket, he left his room. Locking the door and walking quickly, he was off to get everyone else and they were going to see Minho. In his rush, the boy forgot one important thing; he didn’t know where they found him. He slammed a wall with his fist, still crying. He dialled the number Jake had called from again.</p><p>~</p><p>To everyone’s great surprise, they didn’t have to travel all the way to Incheon, they didn’t have to go far at all. Right there in Seoul, a small gloomy park spread across the land, a stream running through it. This park was full of a hanging mist and gloom, not because of the weather, but because of the horrible discovery made there early that morning. </p><p>At 12:30 am, following a call from a frightened citizen, a group of cops found Minho. His body was found next to the stream on the patchy grass. With no pulse and pale skin, the body was sprawled out carelessly. Jake, the police officer that went on to lead the case, was not hesitant to call Felix right away when they found the boy. Despite the shock and pain that all the friends experienced when they first heard the news, they took barely any time at all to get to the scene. It was very early in the morning, the dark sky and chilly weather didn’t add any comfort to the situation at all. The atmosphere was dreadful, the kind of feeling one gets when a thunderstorm breaks out on their birthday, ruining all plans of outdoor festivities. Though in our case, the group wasn’t planning on any smiles or festivities for the time being. They arrived, half in Hyunjin’s car, the rest in a taxi, pale and not speaking to one another. Felix’s tears were dry now, but his stained face looked worn; he almost looked sick. </p><p>No matter what, it hadn’t truly sunk in what happened yet, everyone was so shocked, they couldn’t think straight, they couldn’t make eye contact, they couldn’t speak a word. Hyunjin, among everyone, looked the palest and most frightened. The bags under his eyes were a deep purplish colour, his dark orbs stayed fixed on a spot in front of him and he didn’t speak. Driving slightly fast at times, and slightly slow others, running several red lights and stopping a little farther from where he had initially planned from missing the brakes, Hyunjin’s driving expressed perfectly the emptiness of all thought in his mind at the time.</p><p>Finally arriving and trekking up the hill leading to the stream, the group was still as silent as ever. They got there quickly, everyone stopped. There he has, lying lifelessly on the ground, the cold ground that seemed to engulf the whole world in an uncomfortable feeling. Was the anxiety that engulfed the park coming from the earth, though, or the body of a dear, loved friend that lay so pointlessly there on the grass? Not having noticed the cops that surrounded the area, the group simply stood and stared, as if observing some sort of mortifying exhibit in a gallery. Felix jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.</p><p>“Felix?” It was Jake. He looked worried, his face was gentle and careful.</p><p>“Hey.” Felix forced a smile. He turned away from the sight before him to face Jake.</p><p>“Look, I know this isn’t something you necessarily want to see right now. We didn’t even expect you coming I-” Jake was stumbling over his words, glancing uneasily at the group.</p><p>“We wanted to come. Do you expect us to just act like nothing happened?” Felix questioned, a little too aggressively, as Jake winced.</p><p>“I’m so sorry, I’ll leave.” He turned away, about to walk off, when Felix grabbed his arm.</p><p>“Thank you Jake,” Felix said sincerely, “for looking for him. Thanks for caring and finding him so fast.”</p><p>“Oh, it- it’s um my job I guess,” Jake observed his shoes. Felix felt an appreciation he had never felt for a cop before, the man before him was dedicated to finding Minho and did all he could. No matter what state Jake found him in, he found Minho, the rest of the blame Felix took upon himself.</p><p>The friends didn’t spend too much more time at the scene, they couldn’t stand looking at the still body of Minho any further. When the ambulance arrived to take him away, the group was off. Everyone missing the typical colour of their faces, some still as white as paper, other slightly green, they left to the cars. Felix thanked Jake one last time, hugging him and followed his friends. On the drive home, Jeongin and Seungmin burst out in tears and Changbin hugged them both in the back of Hyunjin’s slightly swerving car. Meanwhile, in the taxi, Felix was crying into Chan’s chest, while Jisung stared out the window, not revealing the quiet tears streaming down his face.</p><p>They got back to the motel. No one was really in the mood to talk yet. Changbin took Seungmin and Jeongin into his room, they stayed silently together. Seungmin and Jeongin continued to sob quietly, Changbin comforted them simply by his presence. He shed a few tears himself but stayed strong to offer the two other boys support. The atmosphere was tense, but the three were quite sleepy nonetheless (no one had slept well for the few days prior), so by around 4 am, all three were asleep, cuddled together. Felix stayed with Chan in his room, sleeping soundlessly in the older’s arms only a few minutes after returning from the park. Chan had lots on his mind, he was still stunned by what happened. Though it took him some time, he ended up falling asleep as well. Jisung and Hyunjin preferred to stay alone at a time like this. Hyunjin was in his room, not sleeping still, his eyes red and puffy from crying. He was blaming himself for what happened, he was finding various ways in which he could have prevented the events. Jisung was laying on his back on his bed, awake like his neighbor. His room was a mess, the bedside table thrown in the corner of the room. The old chair had fallen apart from the collision with the wall. The framed picture that was once on the wall was now on the carpet, it would have even shattered if it wasn’t already broken. Papers, books, clothes were everywhere, Jisung was motionless on the bed. The occasional sniffle or heavy breath was heard, but otherwise, the room was as still as if a storm had passed. </p><p> </p><p>The sun came up and the friends were still sleeping, not all of them though. Jisung fell asleep after all, he couldn’t help it and drifted off without noticing. Hyunjin, however, couldn’t dare to even shut his eyes for more than three seconds. No matter how exhausted his body was, his mind was wide awake and bothering him. Without comprehending fully how he got there, Hyunjin watched the sunrise from the park; precisely the one where his dead friend lay just hours prior. He stood observing the stream, observing how it rushed by noisily, the water leaving almost no trace, taking things with it if anything. Life is like that, he thought, speeding by carelessly, grabbing things, people with it all around, not warning you when it decides to steal something or someone from you. It doesn’t care how much that person means to people, it doesn’t care how young that person is, it’s selfish and harsh, it’s vicious claws grabbing, snatching at everything all around and hurting hearts along the way. Hyunjin watched as the water carried small rocks, branches, leaves with it. He sighed and turned away. </p><p>Hyunjin began walking slowly along the stream instead, his mind wandering just like him. What did he remember of Minho? To be fair, Hyunjin knew him for a little over a year. Not like Felix, who was close to him for five years. But the time they spent together didn’t matter! Hyunjin held Minho close to his heart, Minho made him smile, he made him laugh and made him feel comfortable. Hyunjin remembered all the things he found beautiful in Minho. The strength, the determination to do what he wanted, the talent and loyalty. Minho always put people around him, his friends, his family before him. Hyunjin remembered when Minho had hurt his leg while dancing. No matter how bad the pain was and how tired he felt, Minho was at the studio when Hyunjin was practicing for his upcoming competition, cheering Hyunjin on, helping him, making him feel like there was at least one person that cared. Hyunjin appreciated that, he appreciated Minho coming into his life and teaching him what it was like to be supported, to be loved. Minho taught Hyunjin what a true friend and kind-hearted person was like. Even if they didn’t spend much time together, every moment with that beautiful person Hyunjin cherished like a century.<br/>
Hyunjin sat under a tree, crying and thinking for a long time after this thought. He hoped Minho was in a better place, a world like this didn’t deserve that person anyway.</p><p>~</p><p>The next day, the friends spent closed off. They stayed in their rooms, not talking to one another much. Each feeling their own emotions and dealing with them in their own way, they wanted to dwell in their own misery for a while longer. That next night came and went like an idea, a pointless idea. The darkness was fading into light when Felix had an idea. This idea, Felix didn’t let go, he didn’t let it pass pointlessly. The hour was early, but he knew he had to talk to his friends. No matter how sad everyone was, this wasn’t working, they had barely spoken a word since the night Minho was found. Not that Felix had been itching to talk to any of them either, but this time he had something important to say, to discuss rather.</p><p>He was lying awake, sorting through memories, thoughts and reminders in his mind, when he stumbled upon this particular memory. He recounted it in his brain and concluded that he ought to talk to Hyunjin about it. Hyunjin in particular, yes, as Hyunjin had mentioned something to do with the memory before and Hyunjin seemed the most concerned about it. Taking a second to think further, Felix decided there was no time like 6 am to speak to Hyunjin and he set off.<br/>
It took him a few knocks, but at last, he did hear a mumble and footsteps toward the door. The door opened. Hyunjin looked sickly pale, large purple spots under his eyes and a bothered expression adorning his face. In Felix’s opinion, the boy didn’t look great at all.</p><p>“Hey,” said Hyunjin in a rather stale way.</p><p>“Hi Hyunjin.”</p><p>“What do you need?”</p><p>Felix took this as a sign that Hyunjin didn’t want anything to do with him.</p><p>“We need to talk,” he stated.</p><p>Hyunjin stared at him a moment, apparently contemplating whether he should shut the door on his face or not before swinging it open and walking away toward the bed. Felix took the invitation to enter, closing the door quietly after himself. Hyunjin was sitting on his bed, looking Felix over with weary eyes. The bed was messy, Hyunjin clearly spent his time alone in that tangle of blankets.</p><p>“I must say,” Felix spoke conversationally, “you don’t look so hot.”</p><p>Hyunjin snorted.</p><p>“You should try to get some sleep.” Felix was now more gentle and caring with his tone.</p><p>“Is this what you came to talk about?” Hyunjin rolled his eyes.</p><p>“No.” Felix stood, waiting to be offered a seat. When the offer didn’t come, he took the opportunity to settle down beside Hyunjin on the bed. When Hyunjin did not protest, Felix continued talking,</p><p>“I came to discuss Minho.”</p><p>Hyunjin now glanced at his friend. The expression on his face was unreadable to Felix at the time, but he thought he saw hints of fear.</p><p>“And I know it’s hard, but there’s something I want to discuss, I didn’t think anyone else would want to talk about it.” Felix checked Hyunjin’s expression, he was staring fixedly at the floor. Felix continued,</p><p>“Remember the crime scene when Minho disappeared? The line that we found on the window? Remember when we discussed it and I was denying that it meant something and all that, I’m having trouble sticking to that now.”</p><p>Before Felix could say any more, however, Hyunjin interrupted,</p><p>“The same line was slashed on Minho’s chest when he was in the park. I saw it too.”</p><p>He looked straight into Felix’s eyes. They just sat in silence for a few seconds, looking into each other’s eyes before Felix spoke,</p><p>“Hyunjin, I’m just so, so confused and scared and I really don’t know what it meant, but the slightest thing is scaring me now, so I just can't let it go.”</p><p>“Me neither Felix. I’ve been thinking everything over since they found him. Something isn’t right about this whole situation.” Hyunjin paused and rubbed his tired eyes, “I mean, why the slash across his chest if it wasn’t fatal? The killer poisoned him with cyanide and then cut across his chest pointlessly? And why was he in Seoul? Why on earth would the killer transport him all the way from Incheon to Seoul and leave him in that precise park, that just so happens to be close to our motel? It’s almost as if he wanted us to see him.”</p><p>Felix nodded. These exact thoughts had occurred to him as well. Minho’s cause of death was secured as cyanide poisoning. The boy was transported back to Incheon to his family the day prior to this conversation.</p><p>“It just all seems carefully planned and that frightens me, you know?” Hyunjin looked at Felix again.</p><p>Felix nodded,</p><p>“What if it is part of a plan?”</p><p>“What plan though? What could our friend have anything to do with some weird plan, a kidnapping and a deranged killer?”</p><p>“That’s the thing, I don’t know.” Felix shrugged.</p><p>~</p><p>When everyone got together later that morning in Felix’s room, the atmosphere was awkward and rather tense. They stood, some sat, in an uncomfortable manner, staring at one another until Jisung spoke,</p><p>“So, what’s up?”</p><p>It took a while for everyone to comprehend the question fully, Chan spoke first,</p><p>“Not much, just in my room mostly.”</p><p>Everyone nodded awkwardly.</p><p>“I’ve been to the park since,” Hyunjin commented. </p><p>Everyone looked to him, some looked away quickly, some continued to observe him as if he had caught hold of their gaze and wouldn’t let go.</p><p>“Me too,” Seungmin said quietly, looking at the floor.</p><p>“It’s strange, coming to terms with it.” Jeongin looked around all the strained faces.</p><p>“It is,” Felix agreed, “and that’s why I need to tell you all something. Please sit.”</p><p>Looking slightly caught off guard, Chan, Jisung and Changbin all sat on the dusty carpet. Seungmin, Jeongin and Hyunjin simply turned their full attention to Felix.</p><p>“Hyunjin and I discussed this earlier,” Felix began, “and we thought we should further elaborate on the matter with you guys. I’m not sure if you caught it, but when Minho was found in the park, there was a vertical slash on his chest. It wasn’t fatal, and we all know that neither was it deep. All that said, I do not reckon it was pointless. You see, that slash corresponds exactly with the red line on Minho’s window when he was kidnapped, I am sure you all came to this conclusion yourselves. I was wondering what your opinions were, as this situation is quite peculiar.”</p><p>“For God’s sake! Are we Sherlock Holmes now? I don’t know why the hell that psychopath decided to cut my friend’s chest open!” Jisung exclaimed. He stared accusingly at Felix, who nodded understandingly.</p><p>“Jisung, we aren’t doing this because we think it’s fun, and we do not plan on investigating on our own! All we want to do is talk to you guys about this, it’s hard to deal with things when you don’t talk, okay?” Hyunjin defended.</p><p>“Yeah, I thought about it too though, it’s so strange. Do you think the killer had something to do with Minho in any way? Why is he attacking us like this? Bringing Minho to Seoul and all?” Changbin sighed.</p><p>Jisung rolled his eyes. </p><p>“Jisung, if you’re uncomfortable, tell us. Don’t go acting all annoyed!” Hyunjin snapped.</p><p>“I’m just sick of all this talking! We came to Seoul to be together and look where that brought us!” Jisung looked around at everyone, waving his hands.</p><p>“Jisung, don’t be stupid,” Changbin said calmly.</p><p>“Oh, I’m being stupid now?! Look at you, speculating, theorizing! We lost Minho and we’re speculating?!”<br/>
Changbin looked slightly angry now,</p><p>“Look man, he was our friend too. While you’re perfectly fine with the way he died, we’re confused. You might be mad, but don’t lash out at us right now, it isn’t helping in the slightest.”</p><p>Jisung scowled and looked away from Changbin, fixing his eyes on the floor instead. </p><p>“Guys, this isn’t how I wanted this to go. I don’t want you fighting! We’re supposed to be helping each other, it’s hard for all of us and we’re stronger together,” Felix almost pleaded, looking desperately at Jisung. </p><p>“Why don’t we go out to eat? I’m starving and it’ll get our minds off this bickering,” Seungmin suggested, glancing at the pair that had been arguing just seconds prior.</p><p>“Yeah man, I’m starving,” Hyunjin agreed.</p><p>“Okay, but only if you guys stop fighting. I can’t handle this. We don’t have to talk about Minho, fine, just don’t argue,” Felix warned.<br/>
Jisung and Changbin both nodded, though reluctantly.</p><p>Sighing, Felix hurried everyone out of his room and to their own to change into presentable clothes, as they were all still in what they slept in. He rummaged through his luggage and found a red sweatshirt, which he paired with some black sweatpants. Not the most fashionable look, but Felix was feeling something more comfortable. He locked the door to his room, not forgetting his wallet and phone. As he seemed to be the first to finish changing, he leaned against the brick wall outside to wait for his friends. The breeze was light and warm on his face, quite pleasant. Seungmin joined him soon after, pulling out his phone to scroll through social media to pass time. Jeongin and Hyunjin arrived in a few minutes, Chan closely following. Everyone was now lined up against the wall, scrolling through their phones, some whistling, some glancing around anxiously. Jisung strolled out of his room after a while, which everyone found particularly annoying.</p><p>“You kept us waiting long enough.” Hyunjin rolled his eyes.</p><p>Jisung stuck out his tongue before catching Felix’s eye and turning away instead.</p><p>“Where’s Changbin?” Felix questioned, checking his watch that read 12:00pm. </p><p>“No idea.” Jisung shrugged.</p><p>“Oh my, what’s taking so long?” Seungmin looked over all the doors, attempting to figure out which little number belonged to Changbin. </p><p>“He’s 46,” Jisung commented, watching the other struggle, “I saw him register.”</p><p>Seungmin bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement of the assistance and marched to the left toward door 46. The rest of the group followed, not knowing what else to do. His knock was firm and rather impatient, then he waited. No answer, he knocked again. When no reply came for the second time, followed by the same result for the third, Seungmin fell silent.</p><p>“Maybe he’s in the shower,” Jeongin proposed.</p><p>“Is it open?” Felix inquired, ignoring Jeongin. He sounded slightly worried.</p><p>When Seungmin tried the door, it swung open, creaking horribly in the process. Silence spread among the group when the small bedroom that opened before them turned out empty. Not even Jeongin suggested any more possibilities of where Changbin might be hiding out, as the line streaked precisely on the glass of the open window prevented him from doing so. It was clear that the killer they had encountered once before had struck again.</p><p>“Why is this happening?!” Jisung wailed.

He couldn’t help himself and broke down in tears at once. Chan and Felix rushed to comfort him, while Hyunjin and Seungmin hurried inside the room. Jeongin, who had dialed the police immediately was explaining their location frantically. Emerging looking horror-struck and terrified, Hyunjin shook his head, indicating the room was empty, Changbin was gone. </p><p>“What if he- what if he dies like Minho? I- I fought with him a- and I never got to apologize! Why us? Why Changbin?” Jisung continued to sob, crying into Chan’s chest while Felix patted him on the back.</p><p>“I got it,” said Seungmin suddenly. It wasn’t in the tone one typically announced a discovery, however, it was more of a tone that suggested he had uncovered the rather unpleasant truth. “The last line. It was vertical, it’s the hour hand on the clock that the next victim got taken. Check the time.”</p><p>As correct as he could be, the time at that moment read 12:03pm and the hour hand pointed straight up. Hyunjin led them away from the room, as to not interfere with the crime scene, and they awaited now the police, hearts clenched, souls burning from shock and hurt. Their thoughts now were all over the place as Jeongin and Felix broke down. No one had an obvious idea of the situation, no one could grasp why on earth Changbin of all people was taken. Was this maniac going after them? Why, though? What could he possibly want with them? Apart from Hyunjin’s Porsche and his riches, they had nothing at all to offer. All of them, except for Hyunjin, came from average families, had average jobs and were not involved in any kind of illegal business. Hell, apart from Changbin and Jisung, they didn’t even drink alcohol! This terror, this pain, they didn’t deserve it! It was like piling weights on tissue paper, just waiting for it to rip. But why would the killer do this to them? They shouldn’t be cracking at such a young age, they shouldn’t have to endure those weights that they can’t handle. </p><p>The group found themselves in a random restaurant an hour or so later. They ate, though none of them had any appetite. They were quite silent, no one spoke of Changbin, no one voiced their speculations or feelings. Hidden like their emotions, the thought that Changbin was gone like Minho resided in each of their minds, stabbing uncomfortably at their heart every once in a while. Worried didn’t describe it, they were now terrified, wondering if one of them was next. If the killer took Changbin, it meant Minho wasn’t the only one he was after, and all the friends now felt threatened and vulnerable. No one seemed to even notice Chan leaving to the washroom briefly and coming back, though he announced it. The atmosphere was tense and awkward, it was silent like at a funeral. Seungmin spoke out, his anxious face streaked with frustration,</p><p>“Did you see the recent line on the window?”</p><p>“The what?” Jisung looked up at his friend. His eyes were puffy, though he had stopped crying a long time ago. The confusion was painted on his face, he was definitely absorbed by other problems and the line on the window was the last thing that bothered him.</p><p>“The line.” Seungmin averted his eyes, fixing his gaze on his food instead. “We need to keep it in mind. It looked like around 10 pm to me.” </p><p>“Are you saying someone else is going to die?” Jisung demanded.</p><p>“First of all, Changbin isn’t-” Seungmin’s voice broke off, he lowered his head and didn’t continue.</p><p>“Seungmin’s right,” Felix cut in, “last time it was accurate, we need to be careful.”</p><p>“So we’re being hunted now?” Jisung looked ridiculed. “Great!”</p><p>“I regret ever coming here,” Jeongin stated. His expression read, plain as ever, that he was devastated.</p><p>“Same.” Hyunjin nodded.</p><p>“Come on, don’t say that,” Felix tried to sound optimistic, failing miserably.</p><p>“You know it’s true.” Chan sighed.</p><p>“Come on, let’s go back to the motel.” Jisung stood up, tossing his napkin onto the table rather aggressively.</p><p>No one disagreed and they were off back to the motel, which was in walking distance from the restaurant. Felix took care for no one to spend the evening alone, so he escorted each one of his friends to his room where he insisted they stayed together. The small bed wasn’t too comfortable, nor was it ideal for six people, but they made do with what they had, settling down to play some cards. </p><p>“Oh, I got a text from some weird number,” said Seungmin, staring at his phone as if it were threatening him.</p><p>“What is it?” Jisung inquired, dealing cards absentmindedly, not paying too much attention to the job.</p><p>“It um-” Seungmin decided it would be better to simply show the text.</p><p>The photo didn’t bring enthusiastic reactions from the rest of the group either. Seungmin half wished the text had been the usual scam instead of what it really was. The photo displayed Minho sitting in his chair in his bedroom. The scariest part, though, was the angle. Not that anyone should have taken the photo anyway, but this one was taken from the window, clearly by an unwanted and unknown photographer. It seemed to have stolen all words from the friends, as they struggled to break the silence.</p><p>“That’s messed up.” Jisung shook his head.</p><p>“Do you think he took it? The killer?” Jeongin’s voice quivered.</p><p>“Of course he did, and now he’s sending it to you from an unknown number to taunt you,” Chan exclaimed. “This is just ridiculous! Why is he doing this? Why did he choose to terrorize us?”</p><p>“He’s sick.” Seungmin typed furiously his reply.</p><p>Seungmin [what is this? who are you? i’ll contact the police]</p><p>Having shown everyone his text back, he turned off his phone and focused on their game of Uno for the time being; the picture of Minho in his bedroom never leaving his mind, forcefully bringing a vision of what followed the photo with it.</p><p>~</p><p>They played several rounds of Uno, followed by Monopoly before they got sick of board games and turned to TV instead. The upside of Felix’s room was that, unlike any of the other rooms, it had a TV. As Hyunjin was the one that had originally reserved the room for himself, it was one of the more expensive spaces in the building, therefore it did contain this high tech new piece of technology that the company couldn’t afford to have available in the other rooms. The movie choice was so incredibly vast that they just couldn’t pick, there were approximately six low-quality movies to choose from, along with three TV shows and the news. They settled for some strange mystery documentary that followed allegedly haunted houses and how the monster infestations were solved. Almost everyone lost interest in the show in less than 10 minutes, apart from Jisung, who watched intently, eyes wide. The rest of the friends pulled out their phones, each taking up a separate activity, glancing up from time to time at the ridiculous sights on the TV. </p><p>Seungmin took the opportunity to check on the unknown number that had texted him, he couldn’t keep his mind off of it. The text had been seen all right, it was marked as “read”. The boy sighed, wondering whether he was going to get a reply. He also wondered if he had frightened the killer with his text. Did he believe him? And yes, it was an empty threat. Seungmin made it clear to his friends that he had no intention of contacting the police about the text unless he got any information worth reporting.</p><p>“Do you see that?” Jisung gaped at the documentary. “What if we have a ghost in our motel?”</p><p>“We don’t, Jisung.” Hyunjin laughed.</p><p>“But,” Jisung turned to face his friends, “those people heard strange noises at night and it turned out to be a ghost. It was a man that died- well, you heard it. Then Patrick and Jane exterminated it and it was all fine, but there could be ghosts here! I’ve heard strange noises at night before!”</p><p>“Well, their case was different. You see, they um- the motel was older so the ghosts-” Felix tried explaining, though he didn’t want to tell Jisung no one had actually been paying attention, “You know what I mean.”</p><p>Jisung gazed at him in confusion.</p><p>“What you heard were probably the cockroaches in your room.” Hyunjin shrugged.</p><p>“Yeah, when they were crawling into your bed!” Jeongin teased.</p><p>“NO!” Jisung shook his head. “They’re all gone! Right?”</p><p>“Maybe not all of them,” Hyunjin said in a mysterious tone, wiggling his fingers like bugs for effect.</p><p>“You’re lying!” Jisung turned back to his show, entering his own world of fantasy and ghosts once more.</p><p>Seungmin chuckled at his childish behaviour. He was glad that even when they were all so scared and anxious, they could still make each other laugh and provide comfort and warmth. It was truly special.</p><p>They wished each other a goodnight and were off to bed quite early, as they were exhausted. Sure to stay careful and safe when they left, the group split and Felix was alone again. The 21-year-old decided to take a shower and wash up before doing anything else. Felix’s usual loud, rather vocal shower was replaced by silence and the sound of running water as he recounted the day’s events in his head. He washed his face and changed into some baggy clothes to sleep in before making his way back to his bed. He glanced briefly out the window; the sight was nothing special, simply a dumpster behind the motel. When he turned back to his bed and the phone that lay on it, a new text caught his eye. Felix opened it. An unknown number seemed to immediately mark the situation as dangerous. The photo didn’t ease this feeling in the slightest; it was a photo of Changbin in his motel room, taken from that same angle that covered Felix’s arms in goosebumps, taken from the window. How much more of this could he stand? Felix’s first action was not to reply, as one might have thought. He hastily captured a screenshot and sent it to Chan. Yes, to Chan, to the boy he had met only a few days ago. He felt he could trust him at that moment, and he couldn’t ignore that gut feeling.</p><p>Chan [Reply.]</p><p>Felix [really?]</p><p>Chan [Yes Felix, reply to it.]</p><p>Felix [but,,, what do i say?]</p><p>Chan [ I don’t know, tell him to stop.]</p><p>Felix [okay]</p><p>Felix had to do what Chan told him, he simply couldn’t do anything else. Chan was right.</p><p>Felix [stop this please]</p><p>Unknown [Um, nah.]</p><p>Felix [give us changbin back!]</p><p>Unknown [Oh, honey….]</p><p>Felix [NO!!!! HE ISN’T DEAD YOU DIDN’T]</p><p>Unknown [Oh, but what if….]</p><p>Felix [NO PLEASE I’LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING JUST DON’T TAKE CHANGBIN]</p><p>Unknown [Oh! Good offer, I’ll think about it.]</p><p>Felix [is he still alive?]</p><p>Unknown [Who? Changbin? Oh, yeah.]</p><p>Felix texted Seungmin right away, transferring the information, letting him know Changbin was okay. Well, as okay as he could be, not dead at least.</p><p>Unknown [Oh, that’s not a good idea.]</p><p>Felix [what?]</p><p>Unknown [Texting your little friend.]</p><p>Felix [how did you know?]</p><p>Unknown [I know everything.]</p><p>Felix ignored him. He texted Chan as well, informing him that Changbin is alive, confirming that he was still talking with the killer. Why was he still talking with the killer? He could have called the police, or just blocked him if he really wanted. No, here he was, conversing with him about his friend’s life. The life that could be running out, now that he thought about it.</p><p>Unknown [Tell me, Felix, what time is the next one going?]</p><p>Felix [what?]</p><p>Unknown [The line on the window.]</p><p>Felix recalled the red, fiery line slashed on the window, and remembered the slash across Minho’s chest. He shook off the horrible thought and pulled up one of Seungmin’s predictions instead.</p><p>Felix [it looked like around 10]</p><p>Unknown [11]</p><p>Felix [no, stop! This isn’t funny!]</p><p>Unknown [I’m not trying to be funny.]</p><p>Felix [this is some joke, isn’t it?]</p><p>Unknown [Minho was a joke too then?]</p><p>Unknown [I didn’t think so.]</p><p>Felix [just stop this]</p><p>Felix couldn’t take it anymore, he was done, he was going to block the number and-</p><p>Unknown [Before you block this number, Felix, one more thing; be careful who you trust.]</p><p>What the hell did that mean? Felix pressed the “Block” button and sighed. This was just ridiculous. Why was the killer playing with him and his emotions like that? At that exact moment, two texts arrived at once. One was from Seungmin, which Felix ignored (he just didn’t feel like talking to Seungmin at the moment). The other was from Chan, which Felix opened.</p><p>Chan [Felix? What’s going on? I’m worried.]</p><p>Felix [it’s fine, i blocked him]</p><p>Chan [You blocked him?]</p><p>[Well, you could have contacted the police…]</p><p>[But that doesn’t matter. Are you okay?]</p><p>Felix [yeah]</p><p>Chan [What did he say?]</p><p>Felix [he basically told me that this isn’t a joke, he told me that the next person’s going at 11 and to be careful who I trust]</p><p>Chan [SO HE’S TAKING SOMEONE ELSE?]</p><p>Felix [i guess so]</p><p>Chan [We need to contact the police ASAP!!!]</p><p>Felix [yeah, we should]</p><p>Chan [Felix? Are you sure you’re okay?]</p><p> Felix [chan, can i sleep with you tonight?]</p><p>[i’m just so scared, i feel like someone’s watching me]</p><p>Chan [Of course! Just don’t worry, we’ll call the police tomorrow and it’ll be okay.]</p><p>Felix [yeah, i hope it will]</p><p>Chan [Okay, come quickly then, and knock three times.]</p><p>[I’m still paranoid.]</p><p>Felix [lol okay]</p><p>Not even five minutes later, Felix had entered Chan’s room, locking the door behind himself. They were sure now to be extra careful and take all possible precautions to stay safe. He took off his sneakers on the dirt-streaked carpet, that it seemed housekeeping never cleaned. Felix can admit it, Chan can admit it, they felt much more comfortable together, in Chan’s warm bed. Felix’s exhausted eyes travelled to the clock on Chan’s wall. The hands on the clock brought those memories into his mind, but they were dim now, foggy. He cuddled up to Chan (Felix was a cuddler) and before he knew it, was off, drifting in a boat of dreams over a sea of nightmares. He couldn’t dare touch the water, the water that brought fear and pain back into his peaceful mind. Felix keeped his thoughts in happy places for most of the night, but he lost track, lost control. That sea of darkness flooded over him, bringing various shades of sorrow upon him, the nightmares returned.</p><p>~</p><p>Everyone awoke the next day feeling relatively lighter, it would take them some time to come back to reality; that one of their friends is dead, and the other missing. Seungmin texted the group, notifying each individual of his plans to eat breakfast together. They returned to the random, strange restaurant for breakfast, not having come up with anything better. Felix, who was woken up by Chan, screaming and crying as a result of a particularly disturbing nightmare, wasn’t feeling his best. The nightmare brought chills to the boy when he relived it in his head, but it remained, vivid as ever, in his mind. He remembered a feeling of distrust; one of his friends was a monster. That monster took the form of a person he trusted, in this case, each of his friends in turn, and hunted Felix down, coming at what hurts him most, tearing at his heart viciously. Felix didn’t speak of the nightmare, told Chan he didn’t remember when the latter questioned him, but it was fresh and bleeding, the cut in his soul that the simple dream had left.</p><p>“He was obviously lying!” Jisung exclaimed.</p><p>“Why would he lie? I think he was telling the truth,” Jeongin disagreed.</p><p>“I mean, he could easily have lied, but I think he was telling the truth,” said Chan.</p><p>Felix had just informed the group of his conversation with the killer the previous night and the friends were divided about whether Changbin was truly alive or not.</p><p>“It’s just all so twisted that I don’t even know anymore.” Felix sighed.</p><p>“Well, I think that-” Hyunjin was cut off and no one got to hear what he thinks. This was because Seungmin made an exclamation,</p><p>“What the?!!??!”</p><p>The group turned to him. He had his phone out and was staring at it in bewilderment.</p><p>“He- he- Changbin posted on Twitter,” he stammered.</p><p>“What?! He couldn’t have!” Jisung snatched Seungmin’s phone from him. And there it was, a brand new post from Changbin. It read</p><p>Who’s next? Cuidado   11</p><p>Jisung passed the phone around, silence spilled across the table as this went on. Felix was the first to speak,</p><p>“The next person’s going at 11:00 today.”</p><p>“How do you know?” Chan inquired. “It could be tomorrow.”</p><p>“Are you guys not concerned about how Changbin posted on Twitter?” Jisung exclaimed.</p><p>“It was obviously the killer posting from his account.” Seungmin shrugged.</p><p>“What does “cuidado” mean?” Jeongin inquired.</p><p>“Try putting it through Google Translate,” Chan suggested.</p><p>“Yeah, sounds like a different language,” Hyunjin agreed.</p><p>So Jeongin, who was holding the phone, ran the word through Google Translate.</p><p>“It means “careful” or “watch out”.” Jeongin looked around at his friends, searching for reasoning.</p><p>“This is stupid!” Seungmin shook his head. “He’s threatening us in Spanish now?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Jeongin checked the detected language, “Spanish.”</p><p>“Do you know Spanish?” Chan asked Seungmin.</p><p>“No, just assumed. Sounds like Spanish, doesn’t it?”</p><p>“Yeah, I guess it does.” Chan nodded.</p><p>“Anyway, we’re all staying together at 11:00 tonight,” Felix declared, “I feel like it’s me.”</p><p>“What?” Chan gave Felix a concerned look. Why was Felix so sure all of a sudden?</p><p>“I don’t know, I just have a strong feeling I’m next,” Felix mumbled.</p><p>“That’s insane, Felix. Don’t say that,” Jisung protested. </p><p>Everyone agreed loudly, assuring Felix that he need not worry, they would stay together at 11:00 that night and everyone would be safe. With that, they finished their breakfast and were off back to the motel. It was 12:00 pm when they arrived back, the group was still complete and the anxiety eased slightly; 11:00 am was over. They wouldn’t have to worry until 11:00 pm came around, and that wouldn’t be for a long time. </p><p>~</p><p>Jisung’s room served as the hangout spot that day. Despite the teasing about a possibly unsolved bug infestation, they chose that very room to spend their early afternoon. What did they do, you ask? Well, what they do best, play video games. Not one of the guys left their houses without a laptop for all their entertainment purposes. Even Felix, who was not part of the group chat of gamers, carried a laptop in his bag when he travelled to the dingy motel, just in case. The games they played weren’t much but entertained the friends like nothing else. This they did for a few hours before Jeongin suggested they get some air. Being locked up in that dusty, smelly motel all day wasn’t ideal, no matter how much one enjoys one’s electronic games. </p><p>But where they spent their outdoor time that day didn’t particularly bring the satisfaction fresh air was promising. The park where he was found, where he lay not long ago, dead. Jeongin tried his best to locate a spot far from that patch of grass etched into each of their minds, but still, as they walked along the stream, they couldn’t help but hear the whispers of death and despair it carried. They chatted pointlessly, each trying so hard to keep their mind away from that darkness the park brought upon their souls, trying to stay distracted by tales of old days and cat-related anecdotes. </p><p>~</p><p>The day sped by surprisingly quickly, considering how much everyone dreaded the arrival of the night. It was 8:00 pm when the growling of stomachs filled Felix’s bedroom and they paused the movie they were forcing themselves to sit through. It was time:</p><p>“Let’s order chicken!” Jisung declared.</p><p>“Chicken it is?” Hyunjin confirmed, looking around the room.</p><p>“I want tteokbokki!” Seungmin requested.</p><p>“Yess!!!” Jisung nodded.</p><p>Everyone else seemed content with the menu and Hyunjin ordered. Reluctantly, he unpaused the movie and they continued watching. Once again, Jisung was the only person in the room who didn’t have the strong urge to smash the TV; the movie was quite horrid, but Jisung enjoyed it. This time, the concept was some cheesy romance. The movie carried, dragged rather, one through an incredibly original plot of a man going on vacation to some new country and (predictably) meeting a lovely lady there, whom he falls in love with right away. Jisung was quite into the story, gasping and laughing at times, or making comments. The movie ended just when their food arrived, cheers filled the room (one can only guess which of the two occurrences influenced them more). Hyunjin, who was absolutely, completely and entirely done with the movies the hotel provided, put on some anime for Jisung on his laptop instead while they ate. The others chatted and enjoyed their food. </p><p>Eleven seemed to come and go, it was 11:47 pm when Jisung suggested they turned in for the night. He and Felix were watching anime, Seungmin by Felix’s side, peeking occasionally at the screen of Hyunjin’s laptop. Jeongin was cuddling up to Hyunjin on the bed, he was feeling quite anxious and unhappy, so Hyunjin was comforting him. Chan was watching some random videos on Youtube on his phone. Hyunjin decided Jisung’s idea was quite a good one,</p><p>“We’ll be off. Jeongin needs sleep, look how tired he is,” he said, squeezing Jeongin’s shoulders. Jeongin mumbled some response, confirming Hyunjin’s remark. The two left, Chan and Seungmin, closely following. Jisung warned Felix before he exited the room,</p><p>“Be careful. Lock the door, you don’t know what he’s planning.”</p><p>Felix, who didn’t need the warning at all, as he was paranoid enough as is, nodded silently. His shower was brief and he was ready to get into his bed when he heard a knock on the door. His heart raced, pumping hard in his chest. He would not unlock it no matter what. He was petrified, frozen in place, praying he was overreacting. That’s when it sounded, the code the group had set for each other. Their special code that no one else knew, it was one of his friends. Felix took a deep breath. Why was he freaking out so much? Someone simply came to tell him something, or maybe they forgot something. He unglued his feet forcefully from the carpet, pacing carefully to the door.</p><p>“Jisung?” he called out.</p><p>Why was he assuming it was Jisung? It could be anyone. No answer came and Felix unlocked the door. However, his eyes did not encounter Jisung apologizing about forgetting his phone as Felix had imagined, they encountered no one. No one at all stood before the boy as he swung the door open. The night was as cold as if he had just opened the door to a refrigerator for a midnight snack. The parking lot was empty, eerily empty, the cars that stood far from view one could easily count on their fingers. Felix shivered at the sight, but that’s when another sight caught his eye. It was painted on his door in red paint, scribbled in hurried handwriting. It brought a cold rush over the 21-year-old. He might as well have been in Florida in the middle of the summer, the weather had nothing to do with it. The sight that screamed at him did, it was mortifying, sickening. But the words weren’t the worst of it. A passer-by would have thought nothing of it, wondered what on earth it might mean even, but Felix, he knew. Oh, he knew alright. The line was vertical, pointing straight up without hesitation and without remorse and the letters read:</p><p>UPDATED</p><p>Felix only had time to check his watch, only had a brief moment to process the numbers that read 12:02 am before the world sank into darkness. </p><p> ~</p><p>A scream filled the still air that morning when Chan found Felix’s room empty. He and Jisung were going to pick up Felix to have breakfast (when he wasn’t active in the group chat they had assumed he was still asleep). The sight was horrifying, and when they put it all together, it didn’t get any better. The police and the whole gang were there in no time, sirens ringing, colours flashing and people everywhere. The friends were sure they couldn’t take any more, almost everyone had broken down at this point, there was no self-control left in them, nothing to keep them up. As they stood there, watching the scene that seemed so familiar now, they couldn’t think of anything to say, they stayed silent. That’s when Chan made an announcement.</p><p>“Guys, I- I just got a text from an unknown number,” he mumbled. He was holding his phone and looked like he was about to puke.</p><p>“What now?!” Jisung demanded, snatching the device away. He seemed to have snapped at the words “unknown number”. His tear-stained face showed no sign of surprise whatsoever, he seemed to have been expecting it.</p><p>“Classic.” He shoved the phone back into Chan’s chest and focused his eyes on the crime scene before them instead. </p><p>The rest of the group showed similar reactions to the photo that displayed Felix standing inside his room with the door open, looking outside. The angle was awkwardly sideways as if the photographer was hiding at that same moment. </p><p>“He can’t just show himself and face us like a man, can he?” Hyunjin rolled his eyes, before turning away moodily.</p><p>“What are we going to do?” Jeongin pleaded. “Everyone is disappearing, I don’t know how to take it.”</p><p>Hyunjin turned back to the group to comfort Jeongin, while everyone else was silent, thinking.</p><p>“You know, I know a guy…” Jisung trailed off.</p><p>“Why the hell do we need a guy?” Seungmin eyed Jisung, confused.</p><p>“Well, I didn't finish my thought,” Jisung continued. “You know how I’m into witchcraft and that sort of stuff? Maybe we could go visit a pal of mine and he could give us some advice. He’s a sort of seer.”</p><p>“Last thing we need right now is that.” Hyunjin shook his head.</p><p>“Oh, come on! He’ll give us some advice on how to deal with this. He’s really good. Maybe he could put us on the right track, help us figure out if we’re being hunted like we think or not,” Jisung defended.</p><p>Chan sighed,</p><p>“Why do we need him? We’re obviously being hunted by some maniac.”</p><p>“I just thought he could-”</p><p>“Fine! Let’s go,” Seungmin interrupted, “we have nothing else to do. Otherwise, we’ll just wait here and theorize about who’s next.”</p><p>“I don’t really-” Hyunjin paused, glancing at Jeongin, who was still wrapped tightly in his arms.</p><p>“Let’s go,” Jeongin agreed quietly.</p><p>~</p><p>“This is stupid,” Chan reminded everyone for the tenth time that day.</p><p>“Agreed.” Hyunjin nodded. </p><p>They were now standing outside a small house in a tight alleyway. The door was made of old mahogany, it looked beat up as if it had been kicked, punched and ran into countless times. The bricks of the house reflected the atmosphere of the alleyway perfectly, they were dirty, plastered with god-knows-what and rather not appealing in all. The alleyway, it was tight almost to an extreme, smelled of rotten food and piss, probably due to the dumpsters that stood along the sides and the rather dodgy people one met there. The pavement below the friends’ feet desperately recounted the things it’s been through and the stories it carried, begging the group to stay and listen; it was old and forgotten, dirty and miserable. A car wouldn’t have passed through the space, so the friends, who took a taxi anyway, found the spot rather trapping, not fit for a home in the slightest. </p><p>They didn’t stay outside long, led by Jisung, they approached the beaten up door, and knocked firmly. The sour smell piercing their nostrils, they waited for a reply, none came for a while. It seemed to them they had been standing outside the mahogany door for ages (which was truly no more than three minutes) before it creaked sharply and revealed a figure on the other side. A male around the age of everyone in the group, maybe a bit older, stood observing them. He was slim and handsome, his black mullet accentuated his gentle face outline and his dark, profound, intelligent eyes. The glasses that sat low on his nose were held by a thin black frame, which he peered over at his visitors. He wore a black Metallica T-shirt over a stripy black and white long-sleeve and faded blue jeans. With the guy came a strong aroma of warm cinnamon and spices along with a vibe. A vibe one could not particularly describe in words, but could feel more powerfully than possibly anything else. A vibe of mystic and knowing, strength on a level one might not capture, an understanding and reading of anyone or anything at first encounter.</p><p>“Jisung!” The guy finally exclaimed after running his eyes over everyone.</p><p>“Minghao!” Jisung grinned brightly.</p><p>“How are you? Haven’t seen you in a while,” said Minghao, his deep eyes still surveying the new faces.</p><p>“Well, not much has changed since I texted you last night,” Jisung smiled, “but I brought friends. And that haircut is extraordinary by the way!”</p><p>“Thanks, I didn’t think it would suit me, but it sure grew on me.” Minghao unconsciously adjusted a strand of hair that fell in his face. </p><p>“So, I wanted to talk to you about something. Could we come in?” Jisung asked.</p><p>Minghao suddenly realized he had been keeping his guests standing outside,</p><p>“Oh, I’m so sorry, come in of course.”</p><p>The group filed into the small house. The feeling of tightness never parted ways with the friends as they entered, but the nasty, uncomfortable atmosphere was gone at once. The house was warm and pleasantly scented. The furniture was wooden and the elegant decor complimented the feeling of stepping into a museum, one that displayed solely one’s thoughts and emotions; those that Minghao stored inside his home instead of his head, leaving room for new memories and experiences. Art lined the walls, it was quite unique, expressing from interpretive shapes to animals or landscapes, but each held a power that the artist channelled into each colour, each stroke of a brush or pencil. Candles were a recurring sight in this house, they stood on the small coffee tables, dressers and shelves, the colours and shades varying with each one. At first, when stepping into the house, the friends were met with a small living room. A small couch stood squished in the corner, it was of a caramel colour and made of a velvety material. The couch faced a rather small TV with a wooden coffee table in between them. A dark grey, fluffy rug lined the floor, a cozy addition. The shelves on the walls held art and candles, statues and souvenirs. All in all, the cramped space did seem inviting and comforting, radiating a rather pleasant aura.</p><p>The conversation quickly went from pleasant greetings to the heavy topic of Minho’s passing and the friends' disappearances. Minghao spoke slowly and quietly, making sure to express exactly how he felt, making sure not to leave out a single detail or word. The group didn’t feel as threatened or upset discussing these stories with him, that vibe made up for their lack of companionship with the male. They ended at Felix; worn and uncertain, Jisung finished the story. Even though Minghao had heard everything before Felix’s latest fate, it was almost as if he heard it all for the first time. He was silent for a moment after Jisung’s conclusion, where he asked for help and advice, before looking up, and one by one, looking into the eyes of each of his guests. Jisung, Seungmin and Chan sat on the couch, while Hyunjin and Jeongin stood around them, Minghao leaned on a wall, his eyes passing over each of the faces, leaving them all feeling transparent and plain.</p><p>“I’ll help you.” Minghao spoke at last, “Have any of you ever heard of scrying?”</p><p>“No.” A collective murmur filled the room. Minghao nodded curtly, the answer was one he had expected.</p><p>“To give you a brief explanation,” he began, pushing himself off the wall and beginning to walk around the room, collecting objects, “scrying is an ancient practice of revealing messages or revealing the unseen through our second sight. It was first mentioned in the tenth century but has since evolved into a popular image of a psychic gazing into a crystal ball. It is truly an incredible practice, can be very versatile and reveals things we can’t otherwise find out through our five senses. This is what I would like to do in order to maybe find out more about your fate and it might give you some answers you’re looking for. Any questions?”</p><p>Everyone was silent for a second before Hyunjin piped up, </p><p>“What if- well, it- doesn’t work? Or if isn’t accurate?”</p><p>Minghao stopped his collection of materials briefly, turning to face Hyunjin,</p><p>“Yes, I saw that. You don’t believe in this. I sense strong doubt from you.”</p><p>“I just don’t think there is any way this can be real.” Hyunjin laughed.</p><p>“You were close with Minho, weren’t you?” Minghao continued to look into Hyunjin’s eyes, “and you have strong feelings for someone in this room. Interesting.”</p><p>“What the hell?” Hyunjin turned away, avoiding Minghao’s piercing gaze. It was visible, however, that he was blushing.</p><p>“Are you confirming or denying?” Minghao questioned. It was obvious he enjoyed this when he observed the reactions of the group.</p><p>“Denying, of course! What are you trying to do? Embarrass me?” Hyunjin still avoided everyone’s eyes. He was now deeply flushed.</p><p>“Guys, anyone else hot?” Minghao looked around jokingly,  “Looks like Hyunjin’s a little warm.”</p><p>Jisung laughed, </p><p>“Oooh, Hyunjin. What are you not telling us?”</p><p>“Shut up!” Hyunjin looked up, making quite an offensive hand gesture in Jisung’s direction. The latter giggled madly. The rest of the friends looked very captivated by Minghao’s prediction.</p><p>“Alright, time to get going,” said Minghao, he was holding a wooden bowl in his arms, there seemed to be a crystal inside it as well. He balanced two candles in the bowl to top it off.</p><p>“So what are we doing exactly?” Jeongin inspected the objects curiously.</p><p>“Well, Jeongin, you are not doing anything really. Scrying takes a little practice to master, therefore, today I will be taking that responsibility. You guys are going to assist me and, well, just watch. Your presence is enough.”</p><p>Jeongin nodded, </p><p>“Okay. What should we do to assist you?”</p><p>“Well, first of all, I would like everyone to follow me to the basement. To make this work properly, you see, we need it to be as dark as possible.” Minghao began moving in the direction of what everyone assumed was the door to the basement. </p><p>“Stop.” Minghao stopped them suddenly, “I need… Chan to grab me that jar right there.”</p><p>Chan followed with his eyes to where Minghao was pointing to a jar of what looked like water. He picked it up carefully and turned back to follow the group down the stairs into the basement.</p><p>This sight came as quite a shock to the group. The comfortable atmosphere did not choose to follow them downstairs and they were now standing in a dark room that looked more like a cellar, due to the shelves of storage that lined the concrete floor. Observing them, the friends found that they contained canned food to books and papers to art and art supplies to strange powders and substances in jars. There was some floor space in the very middle of the room that seemed to be cleared out for the square dust-coloured carpet that lay with a short-legged rectangular, wooden table standing atop it. After depositing his armfuls of objects on the small table and instructing Chan to do the same with his jar, Minghao extracted a stack of pillows from one of the lower shelves to his right and set them on the carpet.</p><p>“Why are you standing? Please sit, make yourselves comfortable.” Minghao gave the group a pleasant smile that they could barely make out in the rather dark room. </p><p>They each took a pillow, settling down as comfortably as possible, and stayed silent, awaiting further movement from Minghao. The latter took some time setting up before he lit the two candles, which had been set parallel to each other. The light faintly illuminated the male’s face so that the spectators could see his expression. Minghao had shut all windows and any other means of lighting up the space so that it was dark as night.</p><p>“We will begin shortly,” said Minghao, dumping some of the water from the jar into his wooden bowl, that he had set before himself, in between the candles. </p><p>“What is that water?” Jeongin inquired. He seemed quite interested in the process, unlike Hyunjin, who sat beside him, glaring at Minghao.</p><p>“Rainwater. I collected it. It’s best used for scrying. Now, this crystal will help me focus my eyes on one spot,” Minghao narrated, placing his crystal into the bowl with the water before glancing up at Jeongin, who was eyeing the crystal in an intrigued manner.</p><p>“Now, any more questions before we begin? It needs to be quite quiet for me to focus.” Minghao passed his orbs over the faces before him. Most of the friends shook their heads, Hyunjin simply glared. “Alright, I will now begin. I’m scrying on Jisung, by the way. I just know him best, I hope you don’t mind.”</p><p>“Not at all,” Chan replied.</p><p>“Nope.” Jeongin shook his head.</p><p>And then the group fell silent. They didn’t truly know how much time had passed as they sat in the cold basement, staring at the water, occasionally glancing up at Minghao, who was deeply concentrated on the bowl before him as well. Jisung felt the damp air pass over his skin, heard the breathing of the people around him, and saw the gentle light of the candles. The process was calming in a way and he seemed to float off into thought.<br/>
~<br/>
A dark room appeared before Jisung’s eyes. Not the room he had been in a few seconds ago, however. No, it was a place he had never visited, never seen in his life. Though he couldn’t really feel it, he knew it, the room was damp and cold. It was cold, not because of the weather or the atmosphere, the room was frighteningly hollow and sad. It wasn’t even a room if he thought about it, more like a dungeon. It seemed like it was underground and forgotten. Pipes hung on the low ceiling, dripping eerily onto the concrete floor; the floor itself was dirty, streaked with mud, dust and blood. Yes, it was surely blood, but Jisung didn’t understand why it was there. That was until he saw the figure crumpled in the far corner. He was shivering and shaking, but not from the cold. The guy was crying uncontrollably, he seemed broken and beaten. His blond hair was dirty beyond belief, smothered with dirt, his face was buried in his hands and his clothes were filthy and torn. The guy’s bare feet were almost black with the caked up mud, peeking out from under his body as he sat, crouched. Suddenly, the guy seemed to have heard a noise, he looked up and for a fraction of a second, Jisung saw his glazed brown eyes. They held a glint of fright, but no trace of hope, no happiness, only despair. Then he was gone.<br/>
~<br/>
Jisung jumped a little when the dungeon faded. He was now back in Minghao’s basement with his friends as if nothing had happened. Minghao seemed concentrated on the bowl still, no one seemed to notice Jisung’s conscious wandering. What had just happened? Had he just seen a vision like Minghao? Was that it? But who was that guy and where was he? Jisung closed his eyes, digging deep in his mind for any recollection of those eyes, of the guy he had seen. Nothing. Jisung was positive he had never seen him in his life! So why did he suddenly see him now in that state? The guy was not there by choice, was someone holding him captive? What the hell?! Maybe he had made it up, or he had gone mad. That’s a possibility, he thought. </p><p>“Guys.” Jisung was pulled away from his thoughts again by Minghao. Looking at him now, Jisung saw a mild look of distress on that wise face, Minghao had not seen anything pleasant either. Maybe I should tell him what I saw, thought Jisung. But, what if it wasn’t anything to worry about? Though the tightness he felt in his chest nagged him, he was worried.</p><p>~</p><p>“All I can tell you is,” Minghao paused. </p><p>“Go on,” Hyunjin urged, irritated.</p><p>“One of you isn't pure,” Minghao concluded. Silence, confused silence spread.</p><p>“One of you has bad intentions. I can sense it now, I can’t believe I didn’t before. The problem is, there is also trust, the lies and betrayal, they are masked by the trust. I can’t figure out who it is.” Minghao looked anxious. He looked around at the group, pausing on each face again before sighing in defeat.</p><p>“Seriously?” Hyunjin laughed. “What did you see, then?”</p><p>“I’d prefer not to speak of it, thank you,” Minghao retorted, now sounding slightly less relaxed, “I will warn you, though. This isn’t a simple situation and you need to understand who you can truly trust. I can’t help you with that, only you can know that.”</p><p>“Guys, we’re wasting our time.” Hyunjin rolled his eyes.</p><p>“There’s really nothing else that came of that long ass session of whatever you were doing?” Chan stared at Minghao.</p><p>The latter sighed, </p><p>“Jisung, come here.”</p><p>He led Jisung away from the group into the corner of the room where he could safely communicate with him without anyone overhearing.</p><p>“Listen, you need to watch out.” Minghao shot his friend a significant look.</p><p>“What- you know what, I have something to tell you about as well,” Jisung spoke urgently, lowering the volume of his voice to a mere whisper, “I saw something.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“When you were scrying, I think I managed to do it too somehow- I-” Jisung broke off, looking around himself. His friends were chatting on the other side of the room, some looking grouchily at Minghao.</p><p>“Wow, Jisung! That’s very rare,” Minghao sounded encouraging.</p><p>“Well, good to know it’s possible. What I saw wasn’t that exciting, though, I can’t even describe it. It was a guy I’ve never seen before, he was in this dungeon and he was crying. It was so dirty and sad and miserable. I couldn’t actually feel it, but it was so cold in a way.” Jisung shook his head in disbelief.</p><p>“Jisung, what could that mean?” The other fixed upon him a concerned gaze.</p><p>“I have no idea, that’s the point!” Jisung rubbed his temples, the thought was even too much for him.</p><p>“Jisung, you need to think. This has to mean something to you, or else you wouldn’t have seen it. Don’t take it too seriously, but sure try to figure it out,” said Minghao.</p><p>“But what did you see?” Jisung inquired eagerly.</p><p>“It was-”<br/>
Minghao was interrupted by Seungmin,</p><p>“Guys, are you done yet? We wanted to get lunch.”</p><p>“We- uh,” Jisung stammered, glancing from Minghao to his friends.</p><p>“Yes, all done. Go have lunch, it was nice to meet you all.” Minghao’s eyes passed from the group to Jisung, trailing on the latter’s. His gaze held no certainty or calm, it was a warning. Something bad would happen unless Jisung found out how to stop it.</p><p>~</p><p>It wasn’t until the group had eaten lunch at some strange small diner and arrived at the park to hang out that they had the discussion. That discussion precisely, the one where they discussed Minghao’s words, his prediction, his warning. </p><p>“We have to talk about it, you can’t ignore it forever,” Jisung stated as they strode along the dirt path, not talking much.</p><p>“I say he’s full of it.” Hyunjin laughed.</p><p>“But you haven’t gotten a text from the killer,” said Seungmin.</p><p>“What on Earth do you mean?” Hyunjin gave him a sideways glance.</p><p>“You know what I mean,” Seungmin replied, slightly aggressive, “Minghao said one of us has bad intentions. What could that mean? I say one of you guys is the killer, or working with him.”</p><p>“Seungmin, that’s insane.”Jisung shook his head.</p><p>“Yeah, you can’t think one of us killed Minho! Do you really not trust us?” Chan looked worried.</p><p>“You know what? I don’t know if I do.” Seungmin stopped walking, the rest of the group coming to a halt with him.</p><p>“Seungmin?” Jisung could barely recognize his friend. Was he really pointing fingers at them now?</p><p>“I get what he means,” Jeongin joined in quietly.</p><p>“Oh, not you too!” Hyunjin whined.</p><p>“But think about it, one of us has bad intentions. For all I know, one of you could be a killer! Hell, I don’t even really know you,” Jeongin justified.</p><p>“Well, think about it. If it was one of us, it would be those that haven’t gotten the text,” Seungmin stated.</p><p>“No, come on! If anything, you’re suspicious because you’re pointing fingers all of a sudden!” Hyunjin retorted.</p><p>“You knew where Minho lived. None of us did. That’s not suspicious?” Seungmin fired back.</p><p>”Jisung fought  with Changbin before he disappeared.” Hyunjin looked to Jisung. The latter simply stayed silent, staring back in horror.</p><p>“Jeongin’s awfully quiet,” Seungmin pointed out.</p><p>“Don’t bring him into this,” Hyunjin snapped.</p><p>“So I’m not allowed to be quiet now?” Jeongin looked attacked.</p><p>“Just because he’s quiet, doesn't mean he’s hiding something,” Chan agreed.</p><p>Seungmin shot Chan a suspective look,</p><p>“You know, you’re quiet too. Are you hiding something?”</p><p>“And you’re awfully obvious! You must just be bad at hiding whatever it is you’re hiding!” Chan replied fiercely.</p><p>“Stop!” Jisung shouted over the growing argument. “Just...stop. What happened?”</p><p>His friends turned to him, none of them seemed to realize where they were going.</p><p>“Just, what is going on? We came here to comfort each other, to help each other. Where have we gotten? We’re blaming each other for killing our friend? What is wrong with you?!”</p><p>A silence fell, the kind of silence that follows a scolding, the kind of silence where a kid rethinks his actions after being yelled at by his parents.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Seungmin spoke finally, “I didn’t contain myself. Of course, none of you are the killer. Why would I even think that?”</p><p>“Sorry, I got carried away,” Hyunjin added.</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>Jeongin and Chan apologizing seemed to fix the words in place.<br/>
“Thank you. And no more of that, please. We need to be a team.” Jisung looked around at his friends, his eyes gentle, hurt.<br/>
“I guess I’m just freaked out because of the line thing. We don’t know when the next person is going and-” Seungmin turned away, at a loss of words.<br/>
Hyunjin nodded, “But the worst thing is Felix’s Twitter post.”<br/>
“Felix’s what, sorry?” Chan demanded.<br/>
“Yup, he posted earlier today.” Hyunjin nodded, pulling out his phone. The post made even less sense than the previous one from Changbin. It read:</p><p>Sometimes I wish I could just go back 🖤</p><p>“What the hell?” Chan stared at the screen in horror and confusion.</p><p>“Why is it so emo all of a sudden?” Seungmin chuckled.</p><p>“It means something,” said Jeongin when he got his turn with the phone.</p><p>“Maybe the killer just felt emo,” Hyunjin suggested.</p><p>“Don’t be stupid, it’s all a game to him. This definitely means something.” Jisung shook his head.</p><p>Hyunjin took his phone back, his hands shook slightly when he held it. He replaced it in his pocket quickly. </p><p>“But what?” he asked.</p><p>“That’s the catch.” Jisung sighed. “We don’t know.”</p><p>~</p><p>The rest of that day, Hyunjin spent alone. He was not up for any social interaction and after what happened with Seungmin that morning, their argument, he felt like an ass and wanted to be away from his friends. Sulking in his room didn’t really feel like an option, even the motel brought horrid memories and thoughts upon him now. Instead, he found himself at the mall. Shopping was always something Hyunjin was up for, it made him comfortable and helped him relax. He heard Seungmin would be going shopping with Jisung and Chan as well, so he took particular care to avoid them, grazing every corner of a shop with his eyes before entering, checking his surroundings wherever he went. </p><p>The shops were the typical places one found in a city like Seoul and the products were no different, some overpriced, some absolutely pointless, most overpriced. Hyunjin wandered around clothing stores, beauty shops, gift stores and candy shops, not particularly intending to buy anything. He found himself picking up items he would never in his life use, nor did he need them. As he held a silver watch embroidered with multi-coloured jewels up to his eyes, he saw the hands tick slowly, teasingly. Then he saw the lines, the slashes on Minho’s chest, the red lines on the window. He set the watch down as quick as he could, maybe even a little aggressively, as the store clerk gave him a bewildered look. Hyunjin turned his head from side to side, he felt like he was being watched. He was out of the store quickly, striding at top speed. </p><p>Sometimes I wish I could just go back 🖤</p><p>Hyunjin read it and reread it as he sat at the small round table of a cafe, sipping a latte. What on earth could it mean? I wish I could just go back, was it code for something? How come the killer posted it on Felix’s account? He could have posted on Changbin’s again. How did the killer get into their Twitter? Right, he probably just took their phones. It was a hint and Hyunjin knew it, but he couldn’t seem to figure it out. Why did the killer want to go back? Did something happen in the past? Was he hinting at something there? Hyunjin was unseated and hurrying off again. He just couldn’t seem to sit still, the burning sensation in the back of his head bothered him. Was someone watching him?</p><p>~</p><p>When Hyunjin got back to the motel, to his room, he felt exhausted. It was only 4:00 pm, but the 21-year-old had seen, heard and experienced enough for it to have been 4:00 pm on the next day, in the next year. He pulled out his phone, stared at the tweet for a second, then closed Twitter and opened his messages instead. There was their group chat, the one with his friends that he had been avoiding for the whole day. Sighing, he typed:</p><p>Hyunjin [Anyone up for dinner tonight?]</p><p>Then, he waited. Were they mad at him? Maybe they were, and he wouldn’t blame them, he was being horrible earlier.</p><p>Chan [Hey! Hyunjin!!]</p><p>Hyunjin [hey!!]</p><p>Chan [Where’ve you been all day?]</p><p>Hyunjin [you know, just taking some time to be alone]</p><p>Chan [That’s great, hope you’re okay…]</p><p>Hyunjin [are any of us really okay?]</p><p>Chan [You’re right, that’s not something I’ve been in a while.]</p><p>[Anyway, sure I’d love to have dinner together later. Have you heard from the others?]</p><p>Hyunjin [nah, i don’t know if they’re mad at me or what…]</p><p>Chan [No, they aren’t. It’s just a bit much for us all right now.]</p><p>[I haven’t heard from them since we came back from the mall, we’re just all doing our own thing now.]</p><p>Hyunjin [oh, okay]</p><p>Jeongin [hey Hyunjin]</p><p>Hyunjin [Hey!!]</p><p>Jeongin [how are you?]</p><p>Hyunjin [I’m good, just chilled all day]</p><p>Jeongin [nice, you doing okay?]</p><p>Hyunjin [yeah, i’m fine.]</p><p>Chan [Hyunjin wanted to go out for dinner later, what’s up with the rest of the guys?]</p><p>Jeongin [oh, um, sounds great.]</p><p>Hyunjin [Cool! Have you heard from Jisung?]</p><p>Jeongin [well, i’ve been trying to text him. I don’t know if his phone’s shut off, he’s not replying]</p><p>The pang Hyunjin felt in his chest was terrifying. It was as if his heart had stopped. It’s fine, he told himself, you’re overreacting.</p><p>Hyunjin [is he alright?]</p><p>Chan [Yeah, is he okay?]</p><p>[Oh my god, I think I’m going to have a heart attack. I’m going to check on him.]</p><p>Hyunjin [no]</p><p>[I’ll do it.]</p><p>Chan [I’ll come with you]</p><p>Hyunjin [no I said]</p><p>[stay where you are]</p><p>Jeongin [Hyunjin, I’m worried]</p><p>Chan [I’m sure he’s okay]</p><p>[You’ll probably just disturb him.]</p><p>Jeongin [yeah, of course]</p><p>Hyunjin [I’m going]</p><p>Jeongin [be careful, please]</p><p>Jeongin’s last text sounding in his head, ringing, Hyunjin turned off his phone. He was out the door before he could even realize what he was doing. If Jisung was in trouble, he would blame himself entirely. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Jisung couldn’t be in trouble, he couldn’t be-</p><p>The door wouldn’t budge, it was locked. I taught him well, Hyunjin thought. Hyunjin knocked. He knocked again and again. There came no answer and his heart was now beating faster. But he thought ahead and brought his extra key. Well, it wasn’t really a specific key, this one opened many doors, the weaker ones that is. Hyunjin took a strong swing and kicked down the rattly old door at once. After the shock of the collision reduced, he saw him. Jisung was still there, but he was not okay. No, he was lying on the floor and appeared unconscious. Hyunjin rushed forward, dropping onto his knees above the body. With trembling fingers, he felt for a pulse. Hyunjin held his breath, and there it was, a steady pulsing sensation. Exhaling greatly, Hyunjin dialled 911 on his phone as fast as he could. After reporting his location and the situation to the operator, he looked back to Jisung’s pale face. His eyes were closed and his skin was almost paperwhite. Hyunjin took him in his arms and carried him over to the bed, gently laying him down. That’s when he noticed the window. It was open, displaying some trash cans and that weird orange truck that always stood there. The thought clicked in Hyunjin’s mind. The killer wasn’t done, Hyunjin came soon enough that the killer didn’t have time to take him. </p><p>The sensation, the thought that he could have saved Jisung’s life arose inside him. Maybe when he knocked the killer fled. Hyunjin’s eyes travelled to his friend, who lay unconscious before him, his black hair gently falling into his eyes, his lips full and resting. Hyunjin felt pride within himself for doing good to such a beautiful creature.</p><p>~</p><p>The group was in the hospital soon after, their dinner plans ruined and their anxiety through the roof. Jisung was brought into the ER, and soon the friends spoke to the doctor, who assured them he was okay.</p><p>“Your friend simply has a concussion, it’s nothing to worry about. He just lost consciousness when he seems to have been hit in the head with something heavy. Don’t you worry, though, he’ll be just fine. When he wakes up, you’ll even be able to speak to him.” The short, plump man that was the doctor spoke in a soft, comforting tone.</p><p>“Thank you so much.” Chan bowed his head slightly, speaking for the group.</p><p>Then they were left alone, processing the events, again quite silent for the most part. Hyunjin had already told his friends what had happened and preferred not to talk about it much more. He was silently thanking a God he did not believe in, thanking the universe and the alignment of the stars, anything that could have possibly influenced such an outcome. Caught up in marvelling about Jisung’s fate, Hyunjin jumped when his phone rang. It buzzed frantically in his pocket, screaming at him and making its presence known. Hyunjin pulled it out of the pocket of his hoodie and saw a name he was not expecting. It was his friend Beomgyu, who he hadn’t spoken to in a few weeks and wasn’t expecting to hear from. However, he wasn’t surprised, Beomgyu had a habit of calling at random times. Hyunjin excused himself and put a considerable distance between himself and his friends before answering.</p><p>“Hello?” </p><p>“Hyunjin!”</p><p>“Hey Beomgyu! What’s up?”</p><p>“Not much, just the same old stuff at work. I totally messed up this one cupcake order yesterday and got yelled at, but it was fine and I fixed it.” Beomgyu let out a relieved laugh. “Anyway, what’s up with you?”</p><p>“I well-”</p><p>Beomgyu cut him off in a serious tone, “Listen Hyunjin, I heard about everything. Chan, then Minho! Oh, Minho! And Changbin! It must all be so hard for you!”</p><p>“Chan? I think you mean Felix,” Hyunjin corrected.</p><p>“No…. Chan.” Beomgyu sounded confused.</p><p>Hyunjin glanced back at the small group sitting in the waiting room of the hospital, his friends. Then it hit him that Beomgyu didn’t even know Chan. Why would he make that mistake?</p><p>“Hyunjin? What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong? Is Felix okay?” Beomgyu’s voice came out worried now, following the other’s silence.</p><p>“No, no. Felix is fine.” Hyunjin tried his best to keep his voice under control. “Tell me, what’s up with Chan?”</p><p>Beomgyu paused, hesitated, “You… don’t know?”</p><p>“No, I don’t.” Hyunjin was slightly irritated at this point. Was this a joke? Chan was sitting right there, only a few meters away, fine and dandy.</p><p>“Hyunjin, I’m sorry. I thought you knew. I heard from San, who said you were out of town. He’s been missing for a week.” Beomgyu’s voice was slightly uncertain, but truthful nonetheless. He wasn’t lying or joking. Hyunjin’s heart skipped a beat. Hell, it skipped seven!</p><p>“That can’t be the same Chan.” He shook his head.</p><p>“Hyunjin, does San know any other Chans that you know?”</p><p>Hyunjin’s breath hitched, “No, I guess he doesn’t.”</p><p>“I’m so sorry you had to hear from me, it must be so hard for you,” Beomgyu sounded comforting again.</p><p>“No, no. It’s okay, really. Thank you for caring Beomgyu.” Hyunjin modified his voice, trying to sound more sad than terrified out of his skin.</p><p>“Well, I won’t bother you anymore. I probably already ruined your day.” Beomgyu concluded.</p><p>“No, you didn’t, don’t be stupid. But, I’ll go now, I have something to do anyway. Thanks for checking in.”</p><p>“Bye.”</p><p>“Bye.”</p><p>After hanging up, Hyunjin paused. He didn’t move a muscle, he only stared at his group of friends sitting in the cheap hospital chairs. Jeongin, Seungmin and Chan. It isn’t Chan, Hyunjin thought. But how? How on earth? Then it hit. It hit like a brick, like a huge rock, like a slab of concrete. </p><p>One of you isn’t pure.</p><p>One of you has bad intentions.</p><p>I say one of you guys is the killer, or working with him.</p><p>That wasn’t Chan, that was the killer, sitting there, looking all innocent. Thoughts were rushing like a waterfall in Hyunjin’s head. He had never seen Chan before, so someone else could have easily taken his place. He was with them this whole time, he was watching them, hunting them. The real Chan was probably dead or something, while this maniac took his place. But that’s insane, that simply can’t be! Hyunjin was debating with himself, but no matter how he put it, all evidence pointed against him. He had been texting Chan when Jisung was in trouble. Chan was trying to talk him out of going to Jisung, saying he would go instead. Was he buying time? When Changbin disappeared, Chan was one of the last ones out of his room. Chan was supposed to have blond hair! This one had brown! Oh sure he dyed it, that was a different person. </p><p>A peculiar feeling enveloped Hyunjin at once, he felt so open and obvious to this man. This man that he doesn’t know. Then he felt the creeping feeling of anxiety, fear and secrecy. He couldn’t seem suspicious now, he might get Seungmin and Jeongin in trouble. </p><p>For the first time during that entire trip, Hyunjin felt in danger. He felt like any one of his moves might affect the situation greatly. He felt like he was pacing on thin glass. He couldn’t let it crack, could let his friends fall deeper into that icy lake beneath them. No, he would make a plan. I need to call the police, he thought, but will they believe me? Taking a deep breath, Hyunjin turned back to the glass that separated him and his friends now, his friends and the killer. He made his way to the washroom, grabbing a few things from the reception desk on the way there. Once he returned, he walked back into the waiting room.</p><p>~</p><p>“Food?” The killer questioned, casting Hyunjin a curious look.</p><p>“Yeah, aren’t you guys hungry?” Hyunjin tried to sound matter-of-fact.</p><p>“I mean, yeah,” Jeongin replied.</p><p>“Yeah.” Seungmin nodded.</p><p>“Exactly, we could go pick up some food from the convenience store and then stay here until he wakes up,” Hyunjin explained.</p><p>“But what about Jisung?” The killer was quite convincing, Hyunjin did admit.</p><p>“Well, only a couple of us have to go to the store at once.” Hyunjin replied.</p><p>“I’ll go,” Jeongin volunteered.</p><p>“No, Jeonginnie, you should rest. Stay here.” Hyunjin patted the boy on the back. This much was true, he did prefer Jeongin rest, he wasn’t feeling his best the past few days.</p><p>“‘Kay, I’ll go,” said the killer. </p><p>Bingo!</p><p>“Sure. Chan and I will go then.” Hyunjin nodded.</p><p>The killer stood up, preparing to leave. Hyunjin shot Jeongin a meaningful look. When he had patted him on the back, he managed to slip a sticky note into his hand while lowering his own. The sticky note that he had snatched from the reception desk while the receptionist was speaking on the phone. Jeongin looked slightly puzzled, but was no idiot and held onto the note, hiding it in his pocket. For the second time that day, Hyunjin spoke to a God he didn’t believe existed.<br/>
Please, don’t let him doubt me.<br/>
Then, he was off, alone with the killer.</p><p>~</p><p>Hyunjin drove absentmindedly, his car passing through streets like his mind racing through all the time he spent with this fake Chan that sat behind him, speeding through the memories and trust. The convenience store wasn’t far, but Hyunjin was afraid he wouldn’t be able to locate it, he was zoning out too much. The killer sat beside him, sitting quietly, unknowingly. Hyunjin felt his gaze on the right of his face as the man glanced over at him from time to time. It was cold, the feeling, those eyes. As Hyunjin finally came to a stop in a parking spot outside the store, he let out a sigh, hoping the police were on their way, hoping this wouldn’t last much longer. </p><p>“Ready to go?” he tried to sound cheerful addressing the fake Chan. Just as he reached to open his door, however, the killer grabbed his arm. Hyunjin panicked slightly, but modified his expression, turning to his companion in staged concern.</p><p>“Wha-”</p><p>But he was cut off by the killer,</p><p>“What’s wrong, Hyunjin?”</p><p>Hyunjin felt his icy touch on his arm, the grip trapping him. His heart was now pounding, he inhaled a shaky breath.</p><p>“Nothing. What do you mean?” He once again tried to sound confused, not sure if it came out right.</p><p>“I see something’s wrong, don’t be stupid.” The killer shook his head.</p><p>Stay cool, stay cool, don’t let him figure it out. </p><p>The mantra in Hyunjin’s head screamed, he laughed nervously,</p><p>“Chan, I’m fine.”</p><p>The killer surveyed him with those cold eyes, the eyes of a predator.</p><p>“Fine,” he said, letting go of Hyunjin’s arm and exiting the car.</p><p>Hyunjin stayed put for a second. His mind was racing, his heart catching up. Did he know? But, he couldn’t, he just couldn’t. Hyunjin opened the door and stepped out. This was going to be one hell of a shopping trip.</p><p>The killer walking quickly before him, Hyunjin almost jogged to catch up.</p><p>“Hey man, are you okay?” Hyunjin questioned.</p><p>“Yeah, just shocked I guess,” the killer replied. His acting was still on point, Hyunjin could sure admit that.</p><p>“Alright,” said Hyunjin as they entered the store. He glanced out of the glass, looking for cop cars or something. But he saw nothing but an empty street.</p><p>“So, what are we buying?” the killer walked on into the small building. He looked around at the choices of food around them.</p><p>“Do you want ramen or something, or just snacks like chips?” Hyunjin inquired. He felt the knot in his stomach, it wouldn’t ease. He was in the presence of someone who had done so much harm to his friends and him, how could he not feel anxious and terrified?</p><p>“Hmm, chips are fine. Honestly, I’m not too hungry,” the killer strolled over to a nearby rack of colorful bags.</p><p>“Alright, I’ll get drinks, I guess.” Hyunjin walked off to the section where the drinks were displayed. He was eager to put some distance between himself and the fake Chan. As long as he was fulfilling his job of keeping him in the store, it should be safe.</p><p>~</p><p>Carrying four bottles of Coke, Hyunjin was back at the front of the store. The silence and emptiness drilled into his mind and soul. Where was everyone? It was as if someone had set the situation up specifically to freak Hyunjin out of his skin. The entrance was empty, the aisles were empty, the cash register seemed quite quiet as well. Where was the cashier? The large windows confirmed that the parking lot was free of all cars except for his and the streets screamed in loneliness as well. Where was he even? The fake Chan had told the group about the store. Yes, it was in a slightly dodgy neighborhood, but there was nothing strange about that. Right? </p><p>Suddenly, Hyunjin didn’t feel safe anymore. That feeling, like he was being watched, was back. And where was Chan? The fake Chan, where was he? Hyunjin spun around, his eyes grazing the empty store. He turned twice before he detected movement out of the corner of his eye. But the movement didn’t come from inside the store, no. He caught it briefly, the shifting and disappearance of a figure outside. He turned to face the large, foggy windows. He was gone now, but he had been there just a second ago. Chan was outside. Mentally cursing himself, Hyunjin set down the bottles he was holding on the tile floor. How could he have left him alone? The killer knew something was up. He was probably already gone, escaped and there was no chance of catching him.</p><p>Before he knew it, Hyunjin was outside, his head turning from one direction to the other. He followed where he had seen the trace of the hunted, the killer had gone left. His steps light on the pavement, Hyunjin moved towards the side of the store. The lighting outside was now fading, the mood going with it. The day was coming to an end and the sun was setting. Hyunjin felt the light breeze against his face as he slowly made his way around the corner of the store. What opened up before him when he turned the corner was a small alleyway, quite plain excluding the tin trash cans that stood along the left side. The pavement was dirty, streaked with all sorts of dark substances and a strong smell wafted over Hyunjin as he stood, staring down the alley. The worst part: no killer. It was empty and that sight did not sit well in Hyunjin’s stomach. He looked around himself, fear washing over him once again. Then, he felt a hit to the back of his head. </p><p>The collision was strong and came from a hard, heavy object. Hyunjin’s head buzzed when it happened, he lost his balance and fell down. Caught off guard, he was unable to soften his fall well against the pavement and it sent another wave of pain, now through his shoulder and arm. He blinked his eyes hard and turned to look up from the ground at the figure towering above him. There he stood, the killer, who pretended to be Chan, who Hyunjin had trusted until only some twenty minutes ago. Hyunjin pushed himself to get up, but was unable, he sank right back down again. The hit was hard and his head still seemed to be buzzing and vibrating like a cartoon character. Then, a throbbing kicked in, but he lay on his back, on the pavement, staring up at that man, the one that he had previously trusted. </p><p>“Well, well Hyunjin.” The killer tossed aside a dirty slab of wood he was holding, the one he had just hit Hyunjin with.</p><p>“You-” Hyunjin managed to choke out. His sentence was cut short by the killer kicking him hard in the stomach. He curled on the ground, gripping his abdomen.</p><p>“I what? I tricked, didn’t I?” The killer laughed.</p><p>“You are a snake!” Hyunjin shouted. “What did you do with Chan?!”</p><p>“Oh, him.” The killer laughed again. However, Hyunjin never heard what he had done to the real Chan. No, that story was cut short by ringing sirens and lights, cars approaching. The man standing above him turned back, cursing loudly, but sighing. He seemed to have known it was coming.</p><p>“You are a smart guy, Hyunjin. Very smart indeed,” he said, casting his eyes upon Hyunjin again. “Well, my time has come. Look out for the farewell, by the way.”</p><p>Then, surprisingly, the man laughed. It was a sad, tired sort of laugh. Hyunjin watched from the pavement as he stood in the lights of the cop cars, a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. He was caught, captured at last. Took them long enough. Hyunjin sighed and lowered his thrashing, throbbing head back onto the ground. It was over. He closed his eyes, hearing the shouts of the cops distantly.</p><p>~</p><p>In two days' time, Jisung was dismissed from the hospital. Hyunjin had beat him by a day, his concussion wasn’t as intense, which gave him a head start. Jeongin sat in the waiting room of the hospital with Hyunjin, while Seungmin conversed with the doctor. He was exhausted and freaked out. Everything had happened so fast, he didn’t really have enough time to absorb the events. And such events did need absorbing.</p><p>When Hyunjin slipped the sticky note into his palm, he knew something was wrong. The look, the fear in Hyunjin’s eyes brought a nervousness upon him. When he read it, confusion joined his list of overpowering emotions. He shared the note with Seungmin, who radiated doubt. Jeongin knew there was a problem, so he didn’t listen to Seungmin when he called the police, he trusted Hyunjin. Hyunjin had never screwed him over, never suggested anything wrong, so he would now trust him back. The note seemed engraved in his mind when he hung up the phone after calling 911, it read:</p><p>Jeongin, call the police now, tell them to come to Won Hyun’s Convenience NOW. please trust me -Hyunjin</p><p> </p><p>He and Seungmin caught a taxi to the store just after. Jeongin had close to no idea what it was about, but he knew it must have a relation to their current problem: the maniac kidnapping and killing their friends. He was not disappointed when they arrived, more like shocked. Chan was in those flashing lights of the cop cars, raising his hands in the air. There were guns pointed at him as police officers approached and handcuffed him. Jeongin’s mind rushed to conclusions, but they all seemed unlikely. Was Chan guilty? What happened? He stood next to Seungmin, paralyzed and watching the scene. Then he saw why the cops were taking their friend. Jake, the cop that was working on their case with the kidnappings, was instructing them to do so. He stood beside a crumpled body on the ground. Hyunjin! Jeongin rushed to help his friend and the rest was a blur.</p><p>Now he sat on the rough fabric of the chair in the waiting room of the hospital with Hyunjin, waiting for Jisung to be dismissed. The smell was slightly toxic, it smelled of medication, sanitization and illness. Not a particularly pleasing smell, but who likes how a hospital smells?  Hyunjin was the first to jump up and greet Jisung when he exited his room, looking slightly ruffled and tired. The doctor finished up explaining the situation to Seungmin, so he and Jeongin joined in on meeting Jisung. They didn’t stay in the pungent-smelling building for much longer, returning to a building that was only slightly more pleasing: the motel. The group was done in Seoul, they wanted nothing more to do with the city. When they arrived at the motel that morning, they began packing, knowing they would have to say goodbye soon, not looking forward to it. Jeongin was gathering his clothes off of the bed when he heard Hyunjin’s exclamation,</p><p>“Oh my-”<br/>
Jeongin turned to his friend, who was busy in the other corner of the room, stuffing his hoodie into his suitcase. But that activity was now abandoned, the hoodie lay on the floor carelessly. Hyunjin’s attention was focused on something else; he held what looked like an ordinary sheet of paper.</p><p>“What? You lost something?” Jeongin turned back to his own jeans and continued folding them.</p><p>“No- I-” Hyunjin stammered but got nothing out.</p><p>“What’s up?” Jeongin dropped the jeans and marched over to see what was so special about the sheet of paper Hyunjin was looming over. It was a letter of some sort.</p><p>“What is it?” Jeongin inquired, squinting his eyes to observe the small writing from a distance.</p><p>“It’s from the killer,” said Hyunjin slowly, uncertainly, “when the cops arrived that night he was caught, he told me to look out for a farewell. I had no idea what he meant, but this is it I guess.”</p><p>Then, Hyunjin handed the letter to Jeongin, who gave the former a confused look before reading.</p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Dear Hyunjin,</p><p>You might be wondering right away why this is addressed to you only and not the whole group. Well, that is because from the very beginning I took particular interest in you. It wasn’t your looks or your wealth that caught my eye, but your ability to observe and think accordingly in certain situations, your understanding of trust and friendship, and of course your incredible intelligence. Oh yes, you may not know it, but you are an intelligent individual indeed, Hyunjin. And hello to the others that you will share this with as well! You value your friends a lot, Hyunjin, and trust them with things like these. Not a particularly bad trait, I must say. </p><p>Anyway, if you are reading this, I am gone. Either caught or fled, I am far and long gone. I’ll miss you guys, really. You are a group of great people, I may have even regretted what I did to you guys if my reasoning wasn’t great. But, unfortunately, my reasoning is quite worth all I went through to cause you this incredible journey. So, I suppose I will start with that exactly; why did I do what I did?</p><p>To put it truthfully, you lot had nothing to do with it. It was all targeted towards Chan. Well, again, not him exactly, but his dad. Now, let’s go back in time a while, back to when I was but a little boy. I lived a wonderful life with my family, my lovely mom and dad; we had dinner together every night, we played games together on weekends, went on trips on the holidays and sang carols at Christmas. This was all until Mr.Bang came into the affair. You see, Chan’s dad was a police officer and worked in that special department that investigated illegal deals and work concerning illegally earned money; that exactly was what he thought my dad was up to. My dad was arrested and charged, because they believed him to be part of some illegal business. To put it short, they thought he was part of the mafia. Yes, the mafia! I couldn’t believe it, my dad working for the mafia. Of course, that wasn’t it exactly, but I didn’t truly understand what it was, or what it was called back then, as I was young, but I can still hear little Chan gossiping, whispering at school; the word mafia. My mother, of course, was shocked as well, it impacted our life incredibly. But, that’s not where it stops, everything only went downhill from there. When my dad was put in prison, my mom had to work three jobs to sustain us. We were in trouble already, but when we got evicted, it got much worse. Anyways, details aside, my mother died shortly after when I was only eleven years old. I wondered why I never heard from my dad, but turns out he died in prison as well: heart attack. I was orphaned at age eleven and my life was never the same again. </p><p>After what happened, all I could think about was getting revenge. It sounds stupid and cliche, but when I heard after my dad died that he was innocent, I simply could not do anything else. Chan’s dad was the one responsible, he falsely accused my dad of illegal drug possession and distribution, fraud and pornography. He falsely accused him! He ruined my life and then said, “oh, I’m so sorry, he was actually innocent.” How could I forgive him after that? Unluckily for me, by the time I got out of that stupid orphanage, the bastard had died. I decided I would give it a rest then, I moved to Japan and lived there for a while. But, the thought doesn’t leave you, it really doesn't. That revenge was still burning in my chest, waiting to be unleashed. And, really, it wasn’t hard to find who to unleash it upon at that point. Chan. I saw his face, heard his voice almost every night in my head: his dad is in the mafia you know. That’s when I decided: he wanted mafia, I would give it to him. </p><p>Surely you are familiar with the game called mafia. The one where a killer disguises himself as a simple citizen and kills them off one by one until they figure out who’s doing it. That was one of my favourite games as a child, actually. Now, I thought I would play it with Chan. It took me quite a long time, but I managed to track him down. However, it would be no fun to play with just one person. Then I found out about his Discord chat and, turns out, the circumstances were perfect: I would play with you guys, his friends that he holds dear, and I would play as him.</p><p>It started out tricky, but I think I played it out well; I captured Chan and decided to replace him in a way. First, it was on your Discord chat. I have no idea how you didn’t notice the similarity between the killer’s texting habits and “Chan’s”, I thought it was one of the most obvious giveaways; I cannot stand grammar errors, even in texting. Anyway, I locked Chan up in his own basement for a while, not knowing what to do with him, then smoothly snatched up the catboy as well. But when Changbin proposed the idea of us all meeting, I knew it was going well. Of course, I was faced with the dilemma of a meeting spot. Once again, I reckon it slid quite smoothly by that Chan lived the farthest from the meeting spot; Busan news about a missing person was quite unlikely to travel to Seoul. Then, it was arranged. I arrived quite early (the day before) with Chan and Minho both asleep in my car from the sleeping medication I gave them. Now, this might be a detail of importance; where did I keep them and the rest? Well, that convenience store I told you guys about, the basement was just perfect. Don’t you worry about what happened to the owner of the place. </p><p>Anyway, I met you guys, slightly panicked when you noticed the hair colour, but it went fine. It was quite entertaining watching you figure out the whole red line thing! Then I killed Minho. Cyanide seemed like the way to go, as in the game one simply dies, it’s never violent or anything, so I chose to imitate that. The stream near which you found him, that one was truly brilliant of me. You see, the beginning of a stream or river symbolizes the beginning of life, the end where it meets the ocean is the end. This one, it is interrupted, breaks off into another river and doesn’t finish life on its own; that is a life interrupted, quite like Minho’s! Then came Changbin, so it played out that Jisung fought with him before I took him, oh well, blame off me. However, you guys trust each other too much to blame one another, even when you clearly noticed the killer brought Minho to Seoul and all, you just couldn’t put it together. Well, I took Changbin and threw on a sweatshirt, having “changed”. Luckily, no one noticed my slight change in wardrobe, as you were busy with other things. Seungmin figured out the line, congratulations to him! What else? Oh, the texts were brilliant as well, really freaked you guys out. Only thing was, I was using the same phone I texted from when we hung out in Hyunjin’s room that time, so I couldn’t really reply, not that you guys would notice anyway. Later, I took Changbin to the convenience store in my truck (that mysterious orange one is mine) while Felix was showering. Then, I texted him. The poor thing was so scared, I actually felt bad. When he came to my room, I prayed he wouldn’t notice the dirt from outside his room window on the carpet (I was watching him, had to get back to my room quickly, and didn't have time to clean up). The Twitter post: “cuidado” is Spanish and Felix is a town in Spain. I hinted at the next victim. There was a slight mix up with the time, but I took Felix anyway and “found” him the next morning. The trip to Minghao’s was fun, I must say. Then, you guys started catching on about it being one of us, but came off it quite soon after… The next Twitter post was one of my favourites: Sometimes I wish I could go back and a black heart. You might have not gotten it but, your dear Jisung happens to have the same birthday as Amy Winehouse, who sang the song “Back to Black”. Get it? I know, genius. I hope I wasn’t too obvious when I didn’t join Seungmin and Jisung in the mall, I was busy watching Hyunjin. :) Then the Jisung incident, I was unsuccessful. I tried talking Hyunjin out of going to check on him, but it didn't work. </p><p>Now I am wrapping up this letter before we go to the hospital, good luck to you all. I have a feeling this will end soon. I hope you didn’t go through too much pain… Who am I kidding? Anyway, now you know why I did what I did. Thanks for everything and I hope you found this letter okay.</p><p>Sincerely,<br/>
Lee Seong won</p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Jeongin paused briefly after reading the end. So his name was Lee Seong won, the man they had believed to be Chan all along. It was almost unbelievable how he had tricked them like that, and looking at his tiny handwriting on the paper now justified it was all true, pointing out simple things they missed. Jeongin lowered the paper and looked into Hyunjin’s eyes. The two simply looked at one another for a second before Hyunjin spoke,</p><p>“He is unbelievable.”</p><p>“I know.” Jeongin nodded, he handed the letter back to Hyunjin and made his way to sit on the bed. “That must have taken so much planning.”</p><p>“I can’t believe he got away with it.” Hyunjin shook his head, staring at the letter.</p><p>“Hyunjin!” Jeongin suddenly jumped up. “The convenience store!”</p><p>“Oh my god!” Hyunjin exclaimed, standing as well.</p><p>“Call the police, I’ll go get Seungmin and Jisung,” Jeongin instructed before disappearing out of the room.</p><p>~</p><p>They found them: Changbin, Felix and a blond boy; Chan. All three were in horrible condition, but Chan was the worst. He was malnourished, dehydrated and dirty, his pale face streaked with dirt. The basement of the convenience store wasn’t particularly a place one would want to spend a vacation; it was more of a dungeon. It was cold and damp, pipes hung overhead and dust, mud and blood covered the ground. The police that followed the friends to the place escorted the three others to the hospital. Once again in that building, Jeongin, Jisung, Hyunjin and Seungmin waited for updates on the prisoners. After checking up on Changbin and Felix, the friends entered Chan’s room. They observed him warily before coming closer to his bed. His hair was blond like he had mentioned in their chat, his eyes tired and hurt, his skin white as snow. That face, a new face, but somehow a known face raised no recognition in anyone but Jisung. The sunken cheekbones, the dark eyes that pleaded in caution; it was the male he had seen in his vision.</p><p>“Chan?” Hyunjin spoke kindly.</p><p>“Hi.” Chan produced a weak smile. “I would address you by your name, but unfortunately…”</p><p>“That’s alright,” Hyunjin assured him, “I’m Hyunjin.”</p><p>“Jeongin.”</p><p>“Seungmin.”</p><p>“Jisung.”</p><p>The rest introduced themselves, smiling at the new face.</p><p>“Gosh, I totally imagined you all different.” Chan laughed, eyes lingering on a few of the faces.</p><p>“Yeah, same here,” Jeongin agreed.</p><p>“How are you feeling?” Seungmin asked.</p><p>“Well, not wonderful.” Chan laughed in a tired sort of way. “I didn’t enjoy being locked up for… however long I was locked up.” </p><p>“Yeah, must have been- I don’t even know,” Seungmin trailed off.</p><p>“It was quite an experience, I must say.” Chan nodded slowly. “Anyway, take a seat or something. I want to hear your side of the story- as mine wasn’t too eventful for the most part- and I want to get to know you in real life.”</p><p>The friends each took one of the cheap chairs and continued to look slightly uneasy. Chan continued the conversation,</p><p>“I got to know Changbin and Felix. They’re very nice. I like Felix a lot. Don’t tell him that though!”</p><p>Seungmin laughed,</p><p>“You wouldn’t be the first in the group to develop feelings.”</p><p>“Who said they were feelings-” Chan blushed, it looked quite strange on his pale skin, “wait, but who else has feelings for someone?”</p><p>“Hyunjin,” Jeongin said plainly. This earned him a smack on the shoulder from Hyunjin.</p><p>“Not true!” Hyunjin denied. He too was flushed.</p><p>“Oooo.” Chan grinned.</p><p>“We went to this psychic guy, he was really cool, and he predicted that Hyunjin has feelings for one of us. Everyone believes it except for Hyunjin, I think,” Jeongin explained.</p><p>“Guys, that was so fake.” Hyunjin shook his head, rolling his eyes.</p><p>“Oh, was it?” Chan inquired jokingly.</p><p>“Man, you’re just as bad in real life, aren’t you?” Hyunjin laughed.</p><p>“Yup.” Chan smiled.</p><p>Their conversation went on for a while until the doctors urged Hyunjin, Jeongin, Jisung and Seungmin out of the room, as Chan needed to rest. The group was warned to stay out of the other two rooms, where their other friends were resting as well. Not wanting to leave the hospital, the friends spent their day in the building that brought an uncomfortable feeling to them all, realizing at last what lengths they go to for one another.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>The trip that they had originally planned to last a few days ended up lasting over a week. The friends didn’t complain when it came time to say goodbye, so much had happened that they all needed a break. It was finally time to return to work, to their regular, everyday lives like nothing ever happened, like their boring lives had not been interrupted at all. It was a fine Tuesday morning when the group began packing to leave, everyone busy except for Chan. Having brought no belongings with him, the 22-year-old spent the time in Felix’s room instead, helping him pack up.</p><p>“D’you think we’ll all stay in contact after this?” Felix inquired, sitting down on his bed, looking slightly worried. </p><p>“Of course!” Chan assured him, sitting next to him, “If anything, this brought us closer.”</p><p>“Yeah, guess so.” Felix nodded. </p><p>He had been released from the hospital the previous day along with Chan and Changbin. Felix had a concussion from being knocked out, Changbin a fractured wrist. Chan was malnourished, dehydrated and suffered a mild concussion as well. The affair had been stressful for everyone, but the three now felt slightly better and their spirits were up.</p><p>“You should visit sometime,” Chan proposed thoughtfully.</p><p>“Really?” Felix turned to him, looking surprised.</p><p>“What? Am I that bad?” Chan laughed.</p><p>“No, no- I just-” Felix stammered, not knowing what to say.</p><p>Chan chuckled again and ruffled the other’s hair,</p><p>“You’re cute.”</p><p>“I- what?” Felix looked up at his companion, flushed.</p><p>“I said you’re cute,” Chan repeated firmly.</p><p>Felix grinned,</p><p>“I would love to visit you, but my boss will kill me if I take any more days off. If he doesn’t kill me right when I get back, that is.” </p><p>“You should just quit,” said Chan.</p><p>“Why would I do that? I need money.”</p><p>“You could just do dance for a living. That’s what you love doing, right? Who needs that stupid waiter job?” Chan rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t know if it’ll work out,” Felix replied quietly.</p><p>“You should move to Busan with me and pursue dance!” Chan smiled brightly.</p><p>Felix raised an eyebrow,</p><p>“Did you just ask me to move in with you?”</p><p>“Maybe I did,” Chan replied playfully.</p><p>Felix smacked the other’s shoulder and giggled,</p><p>“Chan, we just met!”</p><p>“Oh, the time will come,” Chan assured him, grinning.</p><p>~</p><p>Meanwhile, Jisung was finished packing and scrolling through Twitter when he heard a knock on his door. Absentmindedly, he called out for the guest to enter. A few seconds after the door opened, Jisung looked up from his cat video, only to find Hyunjin.</p><p>“Hey. What’s up?” Jisung lowered his phone and sat up in his bed, facing Hyunjin.</p><p>“Now much, Jeongin and I have just finished packing. Are you done?” Hyunjin looked slightly nervous. This confused Jisung.</p><p>“Yeah.” said Jisung, still observing his friend.</p><p>“Cool.” Hyunjin strolled over to sit on the bed, looking like there was something more he needed to say.</p><p>“What is it?” Jisung inquired. He knew Hyunjin wasn’t just there to check on his packing.</p><p>“Well, the thing is…” Hyunjin began, paused, then sighed and spoke, “Okay, so I just wanted to tell you this before we leave, since I thought it was better to say in person. Remember Minghao? I didn’t like him, but he- he was right about his prediction and…”</p><p>When Hyunjin trailed off, Jisung gasped unwillingly. He knew perfectly well where the conversation was going. He had to double-check the reality of the situation by pinching himself. The dream he had been seeing since he encountered the man before him was finally coming true.</p><p>“Are you serious? This isn’t a dare, right?” Jisung jumped up, staring Hyunjin down. He then checked behind the door, outside to make sure no one was listening.</p><p>“You really don’t trust me?” Hyunjin laughed.</p><p>“I just- This has never happened before,” said Jisung, sitting back down.</p><p>“What?” Hyunjin looked confused.</p><p>“My crush liking me back,” Jisung replied plainly.</p><p>This time it was Hyunjin’s turn to stare at his companion in surprise,</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Gosh, I guess we really don’t trust each other.” Jisung chuckled.</p><p>“Oh man, I thought I was about to get rejected bad,” said Hyunjin, “you should have told me earlier! Now we’re leaving and I’ll probably never see you again.”</p><p>“So it’s my fault!?” Jisung joked.</p><p>“Yes, of course, it is,” Hyunjin replied, laughing.</p><p>“You could visit me,” Jisung suggested.</p><p>“I sure could.” Hyunjin nodded.</p><p>After a moment of silence, Jisung spoke up,</p><p>“What do you see in me though? I mean, you’re just the man of anyone’s dreams, but me?”</p><p>Hyunjin raised his eyebrows at the other,</p><p>“Are you serious? You’re just… not like anyone else I’ve met. Over chat, you’re incredibly cute and funny, but in real life, I just couldn't take my eyes off of you from the second I saw you.”</p><p>“I just can’t take my eyes off of you~” Jisung sang.</p><p>“Oh, shut up!” Hyunjin smacked him. Jisung immediately ended his PRETTYMUCH song and grinned at Hyunjin.</p><p>“You’re so romantic!”</p><p>Hyunjin simply smiled and shook his head, Jisung was unbelievable. How could anyone not love him?</p><p>~</p><p>When the group parted ways, they each felt like they left a part of them in Seoul. The Discord chat was never the same without Minho, even when Felix joined. The memories of their adventure in Seoul never left them. The killer was in prison, but his impact was strong. The trust between the group was stronger. Lee Seong Won taught them to trust the right people, put faith in people who have good intentions. But sometimes it seemed like it was hard to tell… </p><p>If anything, they had each other, they knew each other and trusted each other. From then on, their bond stayed strong and they met up every chance they got, on vacations or celebrations. As time passed by, the memories of the time spent in Seoul faded like a bad dream, leaving only a few prominent traces. They all visited Minho’s grave in Incheon together often, channelling their love to his spirit, remembering always the place he holds in their friendship. </p><p>Eventually, Felix moved to Busan with some financial support from Hyunjin and Chan. He moved in with Chan and began working as a dance instructor for children. And what about Hyunjin and Jisung? Well, those two started dating as well and lived happily together. The rest of the group were not much less happy, they all learned from their experiences and went on to continue their personal lives successfully. Changbin even left his job with that awful boss for another company.</p><p>In summary, life moved on as if nothing had ever happened. But something did happen, and those nightmares that returned to each of the boys reminded them of that, taunted them. If the reader can take anything from this story, be careful who you trust, as it is quite easy to hide behind a mask of friendship, of others’ faith in people. It is truly quite easy to pretend to be someone else, to fool those around you. And not that good people don’t exist, no. They walk the streets and sidewalks, they flood the world. It is simply important to be able to identify them. But sometimes you can’t… And what happened in Seoul justifies that.</p>
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